A team studying beaches on Japan's Ryukyu Islands identified colorful fragments embedded in coral gravel that turned out to be plastic melted into the coral's microscopic pores. Using spectroscopy and micro-CT scans, they confirmed the plastic and coral skeleton had fused so thoroughly they could not be separated, and they named the material 'plasticoral.' The team believes beach bonfires burning discarded plastic waste near coral rubble likely caused the fusion.
wired.com
· 2026-09-29
Researchers observed that bumblebees continued to build and use honeypots even when microplastic particles were present in their nesting environment, showing no clear behavioral aversion to the contamination. The findings come from experiments examining how the insects interact with plastic-laced materials in controlled settings.
nature.com
· 2026-09-24
A compiled body of scientific literature examines how microbial and engineered enzymes degrade synthetic polymers, with much of the progress concentrated on PET plastics through hydrolase and cutinase-based approaches. The references trace advances from early enzymatic surface modification studies to more recent engineered PET depolymerases capable of breaking down and recycling plastic bottles at scale.
nature.com
· 2026-09-16
A new report from the Plastic Pollution Coalition finds plastics industry groups, including the Society of Plastics Engineers, have been supplying free or low-cost teaching materials to K-12 schools nationwide. These include lesson plans, worksheets, science activities and traveling programs like PlastiVan that emphasize plastics' benefits to society while minimizing their environmental and health harms. The coalition is urging schools to adopt stricter policies limiting industry-funded curricula.
wired.com
· 2026-09-07
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