The US government on Thursday announced plans to phase out single-use plastics on public lands, including the country's famous national parks, by 2032.
Environment
Sep 29, 2023
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In a multi-year project, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed plasmonic plastic—a type of composite material with unique optical properties that can be 3D-printed. This research has ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 28, 2023
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In two recent papers, Saint Louis University researchers report finding high concentrations of microplastics present in a Missouri cave system that had been closed to human visitors for 30 years.
Earth Sciences
Sep 27, 2023
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A group of synthetic bacteria that can efficiently turn plastic waste into useful chemicals is presented in Nature Communications. These bacteria could help to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution and produce valuable ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 27, 2023
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Plastic particles less than 5 mm in size are called "microplastics." These tiny bits of plastic are often found in industrial effluents or form from the degradation of bulkier plastic waste. Research shows that large amounts ...
Environment
Sep 27, 2023
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Bacteria discharged to the oceans in sewage and wastewater thrive on the biofilms that form on plastic waste. This may be leading to the somewhat unanticipated problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Environment
Sep 27, 2023
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Japan has a plastic problem. Thanks in part to an overabundance of packaging, the country is the second largest producer of plastic waste per capita.
Environment
Sep 26, 2023
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Our beaches are in trouble. Limited recycling programs and a society that throws away so much have resulted in more than 3 million metric tons of plastic polluting the oceans. An estimated 1.5–1.9% of this rubbish ends ...
Environment
Sep 26, 2023
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Plastic pollution is increasingly affecting the health of coasts and oceans. One well-known problem is plastic bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.
Biochemistry
Sep 25, 2023
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It is impossible to imagine modern agriculture without plastics. 12 million tons are used every year. But what about the consequences for the environment? An international team of authors led by Thilo Hofmann from the Division ...
Environment
Sep 25, 2023
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A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs. Monomers of plastic are either natural or synthetic organic compounds.
The word plastic is derived from the Greek πλαστικός (plastikos) meaning capable of being shaped or molded, from πλαστός (plastos) meaning molded. It refers to their malleability, or plasticity during manufacture, that allows them to be cast, pressed, or extruded into a variety of shapes—such as films, fibers, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more.
The common word plastic should not be confused with the technical adjective plastic, which is applied to any material which undergoes a permanent change of shape (plastic deformation) when strained beyond a certain point. Aluminum which is stamped or forged, for instance, exhibits plasticity in this sense, but is not plastic in the common sense; in contrast, in their finished forms, some plastics will break before deforming and therefore are not plastic in the technical sense.
There are two types of plastics: thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers. Thermoplastics are the plastics that do not undergo chemical change in their composition when heated and can be moulded again and again; examples are polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Thermosets can melt and take shape once; after they have solidified, they stay solid.
The raw materials needed to make most plastics come from petroleum and natural gas.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
