Environmental News Network - Oregon State, U.S. Dept. of Energy Researchers Take Key Step Toward Big Gains in Plastics Recycling

Details: By Oregon State University; 13.Oct

Researchers including an Oregon State University College of Engineering faculty member have taken a key step toward greatly expanding the range of plastics that can be recycled.

Cheryl Porter

Researchers including an Oregon State University College of Engineering faculty member have taken a key step toward greatly expanding the range of plastics that can be recycled.

The findings, published today in Science, are important because plastic waste is a massive problem both globally and in the United States, where only about 5% of used plastic is recycled, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which led the study.

Packaging materials, containers and other discarded items are filling up landfills and littering the environment at a pace so rapid that scientists estimate by 2050 the ocean will have more plastic by weight than fish, according to NREL.

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Oregon State, U.S. Dept. of Energy Researchers Take Key Step Toward Big Gains in Plastics Recycling