University researches method to make biodegradable plastic using bacteria and algae.
The world is awash in discarded plastics. A recent estimate of the amount of plastic in the earth’s environment puts it at 6.3 billion metric tons (of the 8.3 billion metric tons that have been mass produced since the 1950s). This includes what is in landfills and what floats around in our rivers, lakes and oceans. Some plastics can take up to 400 years to degrade.