Maria Virginia Sy

Could Japan's new ocean-safe invention be the future of plastics?

Article (news)

Reuters Wires

Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife. As strong as conventional petroleum-based plastics, the new plastic, co-developed by the University of Tokyo, is made by combining two ionic monomers to form a salt bond that allows it to stay strong and flexible. Yet once it’s exposed to salt and other electrolytes in seawater, the non-toxic, non-flammable plastic breaks down into its original monomers which can be further disintegrated by bacteria. “When we place it in an aqueous solution with the same salt concentration as seawater, it dissolves quickly in about two to three hours, depending on its thickness and size. Essentially it returns to its monomer components,” said Takuzo Aida, lead researcher and Group Director at Japan’s scientific research institution RIKEN’s Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS). At RIKEN&#x27;s lab in Wako city near Tokyo, his team demonstrated a small piece of the material vanishing in a container of salt water after it was stirred up for about an hour. Aida said many existing biodegradable plastics aren&#x27;t able to dissolve well or fully as they break down, leaving behind harmful microplastics that ultimately pollute the ocean. Plastic pollution is set to triple by 2040, the UN Environment Programme has predicted, adding 23-37 million metric tons of waste into the world&#x27;s oceans each year. In 2020, an estimated 2.7 million metric tons of microplastics, fragments less than 5 mm (0.2 inches) in size, seeped into the environment, said the UNEP. Recent studies have highlighted the damage microplastics cause not only to marine life, but also the human body after researchers found tiny bits of this plastic in varying concentrations in the human brain, walls of arteries, and other organs. Scientists worldwide are racing to develop innovative solutions to the growing plastic waste crisis and the need for sustainable alternatives has never been more urgent. While the team has not yet detailed any plans for commercialization, Aida said their research has attracted significant interest, including from those in the packaging sector. “In Japan, almost all packaging is made of plastic, and if we can really manage to reduce that, we can expect less environmental damage,” said Aida. Currently, less than 9% of global plastic waste is successfully recycled. (Production: Irene Wang)

Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

Could Japan's new ocean-safe invention be the future of plastics?

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Could Japan's new ocean-safe invention be the future of plastics?

Reuters

Published June 04, 2025 03:08 PM PHT

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University of Tokyo

plastic pollution

RIKEN

Center for Emergent Matter Science

plastics

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