New standards for plastic analysis to prevent pollution

Plastic pollution is an environmental catastrophe in progress. 32% of the plastic we use escapes into the environment, and only 9% currently gets recycled.

British company Polymateria have developed additives for conventional plastics which facilitate biodegradation if they escape the waste stream. Their proposal has now been taken up by the American Society for Testing and Materials, as well as the British Standards Institute, as the preferred way to assess plastic transformation.

Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or in the journal e-Polymers:  doi.org/10.1515/epoly-2020-0041