October 12, 2020
The transport of nine types of plastics floating in Lake Erie was modeled in studies that used SDSC’s Comet supercomputer to create a 3D model of invasive plastic particles.
September 22, 2022
Seeking solutions to counteract a rapid rise in plastic trash, scientists at UC San Diego have developed biodegradable material that is designed to replace conventionally used plastic. In a new study, an interdisciplinary team of researchers has shown that the material biodegrades in seawater.
September 4, 2019
The amount of plastic fragments in Santa Barbara Basin sediments has been increasing exponentially since the end of World War II, according to a study by researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
March 21, 2024
Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research from scientists at UC San Diego and Algenesis shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the microplastic level — in under seven months.
February 13, 2020
…break down from larger plastic pieces or are manufactured at their microscopic sizes: less than 5 millimeters across. The strands of fiber—about five times thinner than a human hair—are used in textile manufacturing; they shed from our clothes during wear, during washing and drying, flowing into waterways and drifting into…
June 6, 2019
A newly-published study in Scientific Reports shows that plastic debris less than 5 millimeters across, known as microplastic, is common from the surface to the seafloor. It may also be entering marine food webs, both at the surface and in the deep.
August 6, 2020
…help eradicate tons of plastic waste Commerical-quality biodegradable flip-flops. Photo courtesy of Stephen Mayfield, UC San Diego. As the world’s most popular shoe, flip-flops account for a troubling percentage of plastic waste that ends up in landfills, on seashores and in our oceans. Scientists at the University of California San…
December 3, 2019
Scripps biological oceanographer Jennifer Brandon found some of the tiniest countable microplastics in surface seawater at much higher concentrations than previously measured.
June 29, 2018
PET plastic, short for polyethylene terephthalate, is the fourth most-produced plastic, used to make things such as beverage bottles and carpets, most of which are not being recycled. Some scientists are hoping to change that, using supercomputers to engineer an enzyme that breaks down PET. They say it’s a step…
August 6, 2020
…is marked with human pollution. The flip-flops on this Indian Ocean beach likely came from India or China, more than 1,000 miles away. Photo courtesy of Stephen Mayfield. UC San Diego Forging a Sustainable Future with Renewable Products Cutting-edge science and new center for biodegradable goods target environmental scourge of…
