Two companies, Plastonix and Elemental Recycling have done what others could not: they have found technologies that recycle all types of plastic.
This is a real innovation because up until now, there were practically no way to recycle most plastics, especially soft plastic, mixed plastics, and dirty or soiled plastics. That has all changed.
The monumental task of recycling the 380 million tons of plastic disposed of each year, that clog the ocean and beaches throughout the world, has eluded us. Around 80 percent of all plastic ends up in the oceans and landfills.
This is number 22 in Interesting Engineering's series showcasing the best innovations of 2022. Check back to discover more about groundbreaking AI, unique solar panels, new 3D printing methods and much more.
There have been discoveries, such as plastic eating bacteria (takes a long time), a plastic eating enzyme (hard to reproduce), plastic eating mushrooms (only works on certain plastics). The answer was found in technology, as often happens.
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