JAPAN-LED TEAM DEVELOPS OCEAN-DEGRADABLE PLASTIC

An international team led by a Japanese researcher says it has developed a new type of plastic that breaks down in seawater. It says the material is durable and recyclable and can help reduce pollution by keeping microplastics out of the oceans. Aida Takuzo at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science heads the team. It published its results in the U.S. journal Science on Friday. The researchers sought to develop a material to conventional plastics made from fossil fuels. They say their new type of plastic is colorless and transparent and has the same strength and thermal resistance as polypropylene. They call the new material supramolecular plastic – “polymers with structures held together by reversible interactions.” They made the substance by combining two ionic monomers, one of which is a common food additive. The plastic's main ingredients can both be broken down by bacteria.