Researchers combined milk protein, starch, and volcanic clay to create a biodegradable packaging film that degrades in 13 ...

Not all polymers are plastics, but all plastics are polymers. And organic (carbon-based) polymer plastics, known mostly for being insulators, in some cases make excellent conductors and semiconductors ...

A plastic drinks bottle is one of the most "recyclable" objects in the modern waste stream. It is lightweight and collected in huge volumes. Yet even for this item, the reality of recycling is messy: ...

Polymer materials offer cost-effective solutions in engineering, yet their limitations prompt research into nano-reinforced composites for improved performance.

In what could form the basis of petroleum-free plastics that are both entirely recyclable and biodegradable, chemists have found a polymer that can be synthesized into useful materials and then broken ...

The UK has issued updated guidance explaining which plastic packaging can realistically be collected, sorted and reprocessed through existing recycling infrastructure.

A polymer is a chemical compound that contains a large number of identical molecular repeating units. A plastic material is a polymer, typically modified with additives, which can be molded or shaped ...

In the race to lighter, safer and more efficient electronics — from electric vehicles to transcontinental energy grids — one ...

Hundreds of millions of tons of single-use plastic end up in landfills every year, and even the small percentage of plastic that gets recycled can’t last forever. But our group of materials scientists ...

As useful as it is, plastic isn't the most environmentally-friendly material. Our constant use of the stuff has seen huge amounts of it lodged in Arctic sea ice, penetrating to the deepest parts of ...