Q: Can that plastic spoon really return to nature? A: On the face of it, biodegradable plastic is a miracle. It looks like plastic and works much like plastic. And it goes back to nature after you ...

Researchers have developed a new durable plastic that won't pollute our oceans. The new material is as strong as conventional plastics and biodegradable, but what makes it special is that it breaks ...

Pollution affects human health and the environment in many ways. Air, water, and land pollution continue to damage ecosystems, with conventional materials—especially plastics—being a primary ...

Biodegradable plastics are not always safer for rivers and oceans, according to a new study that tracked how different plastics change the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria over time in a real ...

A local packaging distributor is working to expand the reach of a biodegradable film capable of reducing waste in the manufacturing process. Packaging Systems of Wisconsin, a Sheboygan-based division ...

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Regina Barber and Emily Kwong of Short Wave about biodegradable plastic, simulating growing crops on Mars, and how deer are disrupting caribou populations. It's time now ...

Plastic pollution is a major threat to human survival, with more than six hundred thousand tons of plastics on Earth. 2 In an effort to reduce the concentration of conventional plastics, scientists ...

Scientists at Rice University and University of Houston have developed an innovative, scalable approach to engineer bacterial cellulose into high-strength, multifunctional materials. Using a spinning ...

Healthcare is awash in single-use plastics. In U.S. healthcare facilities alone, more than 2,800 tons of plastic packaging and products are thrown out every day. Few people are more aware of this than ...

Marine animals may be more likely to eat biodegradable plastics than conventional plastics, according to a study of crabs and worms on a beach in Australia. The findings suggest that increasing ...

Plastics are synthetic or semi-synthetic materials made from polymers, which are long chains of molecules typically derived from petroleum, natural gas, or other organic sources. Plastics are ...

Artistic rendering of the new plastic. Cross linked salt bridges visible in the plastic outside the seawater give it its structure and strength. In seawater (and in soil, not depicted), resalting ...