Plastics are great, except when it comes to making or disposing of them. Production generally requires the use of chemicals derived from fossil fuels, and so helps to continue our reliance on them.

A partly decomposed shoe, covered in mussels, on a sunny pier. Algenesis submerged shoes made with its biodegradable polyurethane foam in the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate their decomposition. Credit: ...

Synthetic polymers have been on the planet for only about a century. But because of their strength, light weight, convenience, and low cost compared with other materials, these plastics have captured ...

The Ocean Recovery Alliance, headquartered in Hong Kong, has released “Towards Circular Plastics: Assessing the Impact of Recycling Technologies in Tackling Plastic Pollution,” a report that assesses ...

Ambuj Tewari receives funding from NSF and NIH. The microplastics project is funded by the “Meet the Moment” initiative of the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.