An Eco-friendly Breakthrough for Plastics

IBM and Stanford University scientists have discovered that a chemical recycling process known as “organocatalysis” (it uses an organic catalyst rather than a metallic one) could lead to the development of new types of biodegradable, biocompatible plastics. This green chemistry catalyst could also lead to a new recycling method that would allow common plastics, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and plant-based plastics, to be reused and recycled more frequently. Consider the 13 billion plastic water bottles that are disposed of each year and have become the bane of environmentalists. This process could allow recycling to original-use, not the second-generation that’s now the norm.

The application of organocatalysis could also be used for biomedical purposes, such as targeted drug delivery within the body. This process will work with custom polymers to deliver drugs to a specific cell or region instead of attacking cancerous and healthy cells.