Sustainability

Smart hydrogels are evolving from lab concepts to real-world tools, showing trends in biomedicine, robotics, and sustainable applications.

Victoria’s approach to banning plastics provides a strong, scalable model for shaping national and international environmental policy.

EPR laws across US states apply different material definitions, recyclability criteria, and PCR targets, making packaging design a key factor in determining compliance fees.

Hydrogels offer smart drug delivery by mimicking tissue, holding water, and targeting disease sites with controlled therapeutic release.

Some microorganisms can “eat” plastic by using it as a carbon and energy source. These tiny organisms could inspire the recycling methods of tomorrow.

In a recent study published in Polymer Composites, researchers led by Sütcüler et al. unveiled a lab-scale process to manufacture continuous carbon fiber (CCF) filaments using recycled PETG (rPETG).

Carbon black pigments blocked NIR sorting, hindering black plastic recycling, but new industry innovations are now solving the issue.

Researchers are trying a different approach to composite building materials by using sand as filler and polypropylene waste as a binder.

With Project 2025 underway, what is the bio-based polymer research and development trajectory?

Smart nanocomposites based on PLA and ZnO push bioplastics closer to real-world performance, offering strength, thermal stability, and sustainability in one simple film.

Breakthrough tech turns waste plastics into carbon materials for energy storage, powering supercapacitors, batteries, and hydrogen production.

Shrink films made in Colombia set a new benchmark for sustainable packaging, delivering circular economy benefits without sacrificing quality or appearance.