3/18/2026 5:11:36 PM | less than a minute read

Plastics made with degradable chemistry?

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Sophie Trailhead

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Sophie Trailhead

A chemist who was struck by waste plastics whilst hiking, has created a more sustainable approach, to our use of plastics.

Nature makes plenty of long-stranded molecules called polymers, including DNA and RNA, yet those natural polymers eventually break down. Synthetic polymers such as plastics don’t. Why?

Rutgers researchers use a principle in nature to create plastics that self-destruct at programmed speeds, offering a solution to global plastic waste.

Inspired by the natural, timely breakdown of organic materials like proteins and DNA, chemists at Rutgers University in the U.S. have now modified existing plastics so that they can be programmed to break down into their molecular components at the end of a specific period of time, or in response to a trigger, such as sunlight.

www.rutgers.edu/...