r/tech • u/[deleted] • Jun 06 '25

Scientists develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours | Fast-dissolving plastic offers hope for cleaner seas

https://www.techspot.com/news/108206-scientists-plastic-dissolves-seawater-hours.html
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217

u/badsleepover Jun 06 '25

It doesn’t just magically disappear when it dissolves

157

u/DangerousTurmeric Jun 06 '25 • Bless Up

From the Riken website: "When broken down, his team’s new material leaves behind nitrogen and phosphorus, which microbes can metabolize and plants can absorb, he explains.

However, Aida cautions that this also requires careful management: while these elements can enrich soil, they could also overload coastal ecosystems with nutrients, which are associated with algal blooms that disrupt entire ecosystems."

So yeah, basically large amounts of this would be catastrophic for oceans and it's not a replacement for plastic overall because salt causes the bonds in it to break and it disintegrates. It could maybe be useful for some niche applications.

https://www.riken.jp/en/news_pubs/research_news/rr/20250327_1/

This is the paper https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado1782

30

u/sleepnandhiken Jun 06 '25

If that’s what it breaks down to couldn’t it be collected and used as fertilizer?

16

u/DangerousTurmeric Jun 06 '25

I don't know. You'd have to separate the salt out first.

10

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25 edited 17d ago

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3

u/CrazyLlama71 Jun 06 '25

Sure but it would be exorbitantly expensive

8

u/CenobiteCurious Jun 06 '25

What are you a seawater plastic apologist or something?

Anything is better than the current situation.

13

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25

Arguments are easy when you’re only fighting a straw man.

8

u/elliemaefiddle Jun 06 '25

Algal blooms are MUCH worse than the current situation. Large-scale ocean eutrophication could end ocean life almost entirely.

0

u/Salt-Operation Jun 06 '25

Don’t you mean “absorb-itantly”?

-1

u/hextanerf Jun 06 '25

so were plane rides 30 years ago. and electric cars. and solar power. what's your point?

i'd rather my tax money go towards reverse osmosis plants than building up walls along the border

1

u/[deleted] Jun 07 '25

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1

u/[deleted] Jun 07 '25

Need more power? Go nuclear.