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Articles on Plastic

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Diatoms (green) and bacteria (pink) living on ocean plastic. This is a false colour SEM image of part of the surface of a 5mm long plastic (yellow) from waters off eastern Tasmania, Australia. Julia Reisser and Jeremy Shaw

Creatures living on tiny ocean plastic may be cleaning our seas

We know that Australia’s waters contain lots of tiny pieces of plastic, and that these pieces can harm many marine species. But in new research published today we show that these microplastics are also…
Electronic thermoset components, such as those found in mobile phones, are destined for landfill – but new research points to a way to make them recyclable. David Goehring/Flickr

Recycling the ‘unrecyclable’: a new class of thermoset plastics

Plastics comprise around 10% of solid waste in Australia. And while we can recycle certain types, there is a group of particularly stable plastics called thermosets, common in electronic devices, which…

New type of plastic performs DIY repair

American researchers have created a plastic that can repair itself. Until recently, only living organisms could regenerate…
Debris or not debris? Floating rubbish could hamper the search for MH370. AAP Image/AP Pool, Kim Christian

The difficulty of searching for MH370 in a giant rubbish patch

Frustratingly, the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has turned up many floating objects, but none of them are from the plane. That’s largely because the latest search area is likely to…
No water elsewhere could hit food and consumer good supplies here. John Giles/PA

Believe it or not, Britain’s biggest problem is a water shortage

Following the wettest winter for 250 years, it would seem fair to assume that drought-induced food shortages are unlikely to be a problem for Britain. But in the near future we may find that water is a…
Much of Australia’s waste plastic is ending up in the ocean, and in fish. John Schneider

Australian waters polluted by harmful tiny plastics

Each square kilometre of Australian sea surface water is contaminated by around 4,000 pieces of tiny plastics, according to our study published today in journal PLOS ONE and data repository Figshare. These…
Solid plastic made from gas. Novomer

Explainer: what is carbon capture and utilisation?

Carbon and carbon dioxide are found all around us. All living things contain carbon - it’s one of the essential building blocks of life and is fundamental to many chemical processes. Carbon dioxide (CO2…

Plastics contaminate subalpine lakes

Potentially dangerous plastics and microplastic particles are contaminating subalpine lakes at a rate similar to levels found…
Bioplastics of the future come in all shapes, colours and sizes. Achim Raschka

Creating renewable plastics that don’t cost the Earth

Imagine a future where packaging is made entirely from waste material and biodegrades to harmless by-products. Or where your home’s cavity wall insulation foam is made from captured CO2 emissions. Or where…
Tiny fragments of plastic, upon each of which balances a miniature world of microbial life. Marilou Maglione/SEA

Welcome to The Plastisphere: ocean-going microbes on vessels of plastic

The amount of plastic debris accumulating in the open ocean has doubled in 40 years. This has been is a topic of increasing public concern and scientific interest since it was first reported in the 1970s…
SWTasmania.

Take a stand on Oceans Day and de-plastify your life

Today the UN celebrates Oceans Day and we have a proposition for you: leave your plastic life behind. The introduction of plastics in the 1950’s was celebrated as a huge advance, with TIME Magazine enthusiastically…

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