Scientists have discovered that plastic can biodegrade under sunlight in just a few decades

A recent study in the US found that polystyrene resin when exposed to sunlight can decompose in a few decades, instead of thousands of years as previously reported by scientists.

Polystyrene is an extremely popular plastic , used to make boxes, mugs, and packaging materials. Scientists still believe that this polystyrene resin can exist 'forever'.

But a team of scientists in the US used lights to simulate sunlight, and discovered that it could slowly degrade plastic. Therefore, polystyrene is not a 'forever' existence as we thought.

Polystyrene is not a 'forever' existence as we thought.

Researcher and chemist at the Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution, Collin Ward, said: 'We are not saying that plastic pollution is not a bad thing, they have been harmful to the environment for decades. However, the existence of plastic in the natural environment is more complicated than previously thought. '

The results of this study indicate that many polystyrene and polymers slowly turn yellow, becoming more brittle when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight.

Sunlight not only alters the physical properties of plastic, but also chemically. This process forms dissolved organic carbon and low levels of carbon dioxide to impact climate change.

WHOI co-author and marine chemist Chris Reddy noted that plastic is just another form of organic carbon. He said: 'We have used many methods and all have the same results. It is sunlight that converts plastic into CO ₂ . However, additives added during production can affect the plastic's rate of degradation.

This may be good news for our Earth, where plastic waste can decompose at a faster rate than we thought under sunlight. But even so, plastics persisted for decades before they decomposed. And so they still cause a lot of harm to the environment and the animals.