Plastic is one of the most durable materials humans have ever made. That durability has made it indispensable in medicine, ...

A new chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that dominate the waste stream today and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics. The catalytic process, developed at the ...

Our planet is choking on plastics. Some of the worst offenders, which can take decades to degrade in landfills, are polypropylene—which is used for things such as food packaging and bumpers—and ...

Despite the planet’s growing plastic pollution crisis, petroleum-based polymers have become an integral part of modern life. They make cars and airplanes lighter and more energy efficient. They ...

The escalating environmental and economic challenges posed by plastic waste have spurred a diversity of research into advanced recycling technologies. This field encompasses a range of approaches—from ...

Picture this: a 21-year-old backyard scientist in Alabama, Julian Brown, sweeps away some dirt and leaves from his homemade solar- and generator-powered, 10-magnetron-powered pyrolysis microwave ...

Along the final stretch of the Seyhan River, in southern Türkiye, plastic bits in various colors dot the water and sediment. When the river bends, shredded plastic, degraded by the elements, forms ...

A plastic bag might be the most overengineered object in history. Some years back, I stopped by a French deli to buy some big chunks of cheese and carried them home in a plastic bag. The cheese was so ...

North American markets for polyethylene, polypropylene and PET bottle resins came racing out of the gate in January, with all three posting price hikes. For the month, prices for all grades of PE were ...

Chemists have developed a catalytic process that turns the largest component of today's plastic waste stream, polyolefin plastic bags and bottles, into gases -- propylene and isobutylene -- that are ...