With only a small percentage of plastics recycled, determining the best way to recycle and reuse these materials may enable higher adoption of plastics recycling and reduce plastic waste pollution.

Plastics are synthetic or semi-synthetic materials made from polymers, which are long chains of molecules typically derived from petroleum, natural gas, or other organic sources. Plastics are ...

Plastics labeled with a number 1 inside the recycling symbol are about 20.9% likely to be reprocessed, according to Greenpeace. Plastics numbered 3 through 7 have a reprocessing rate of less than 5%, ...

Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Its properties sit somewhere between those of ...

Plastics labeled with resin codes between 1 and 7 used to all be eligible for recycling. Now, there's no market for some types of plastic, and nearly a quarter of what gets sent to sorting facilities ...

Victor Gambarini was supported by a Ph.D. stipend from the George Mason Centre for the Natural Environment (New Zealand). Additional support was provided by the Aotearoa Impacts and Mitigation of ...