In 1950, global plastic production was about 2 million tons. It’s now about 400 million tons – an increase of nearly 20,000%. As a material, it has seemingly limitless potential. Plastic is ...

Specifically, the researchers are using a method known as pyrolysis, a process of using heat in the absence of oxygen to molecularly break materials down. In this case, it's used to break plastics ...

Picture this: a 21-year-old backyard scientist in Alabama, Julian Brown, sweeps away some dirt and leaves from his homemade solar- and generator-powered, 10-magnetron-powered pyrolysis microwave ...

A research team demonstrates that palm-based handicraft processing wastes—specifically tagua nut and bodhi root—can be ...

Kevin A. Schug receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes for Health, ExxonMobil, and Weaver Consultants Group. He is affiliated with VUV Analytics, Inc. and ...

Methods that don't employ a catalyst, though, tend to have low rates of converting the waste into products of use. For this project, the researchers found a way around both of these obstacles and ...