Creating plastic can decay in seawater

Scientists have developed and created a plastic capable of decaying in seawater, which will help reduce the increasingly serious pollution of plastics in the oceans .

According to senior engineer Wang Gexia at the Chinese Academy of Science and Chemistry's Technical Research Institute, the synthetic polyester material used to produce the new plastic could decay in seawater in one. time lasts from a few days to a few hundred days, does not pollute the environment.

Plastic pollution is becoming more serious in the oceans.(Photo: straitstimes.com).

Wang said that for a long time, people focused on "white pollution" on the ground, and plastic pollution in the ocean only attracted people's attention as more and more reports came about. The phenomenon of animals living in the ocean has died in recent years.

Scientists have combined non-enzymatic hydrolysis, water decomposition and biodegradation processes to produce this new material.

This research has recently been selected as one of 30 award winning projects at a competition on future innovation technologies in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.

Earlier on September 4, news that the South Korean government announced it would completely remove disposable straws and plastic cups at coffee shops and other public places by 2027 in an effort to reduce The amount of waste is difficult to recycle. Over-packed, unnecessary products in large supermarkets, artifacts and parcels will also be restricted.

This policy aims to apply steps to reduce the amount of waste for the entire production, consumption, management and recycling processes, in the opposite of the previous mechanism mainly focused on recycling after use. Through these measures, Korea is expected to reduce waste by 20% and increase the actual recycling rate from 70% to 82% by 2027.