Polyethylene plastics in particular, the ubiquitous plastic bag that blights the landscape are notoriously hard to recycle. They’re sturdy and difficult to break down, and if they’re recycled .
Chemists have discovered a mechanism to degrade the polymer (a chain of around a thousand ethylene molecules) into three-carbon propylene molecules, which are in great demand for the production of another plastic, polypropylene.
Polyethylene plastics in particular, the ubiquitous plastic bag that blights the landscape are notoriously hard to recycle. They’re sturdy and difficult to break down, and if they’re recycled at all, they’re melted into a polymer stew useful mostly for decking and other low-value products. But a new process developed at the University ofPolyethylene plastics in particular, the ubiquitous plastic bag that blights the landscape are notoriously hard to recycle. They’re sturdy and difficult to break down, and if they’re recycled at all, they’re melted into a polymer stew useful mostly for decking and other low-value products. But a new process developed at the University of » The FINANCIAL News Tech