#biodegradable

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1. Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue

“[Researchers have] developed a new molecular structure for plastic, inspired by nature, that allows it to self-deconstruct at the end of a product’s lifespan. In fact, researchers say that a timely programmable breakdown date can even be built into future plastic products. […] But it’s not always possible to predict in advance when you’ll want plastic to break down. So, the researchers have also designed mechanisms into the new plastics to trigger self-deconstruction on demand.”

2. 2 'Lazarus' animals thought to be extinct for over 7,000 years found alive in New Guinea

“Two marsupial species thought long extinct, until now known only from fossils, were found alive in New Guinea through a collaboration of scientists, indigenous communities and citizen scientists. […] Indigenous communities in the Tambrauw and Maybrat areas of West Papua aided the scientists with identification work through their knowledge of the marsupial’s “unique” lifestyle[….] Carlos Bocos, a citizen scientist who is now a co-author on the study, [had] posted photos of the animal on iNaturalist[….]”

3. Powerful new rooftop solar panel promises system sizes “previously out of reach”

“[The newly approved module] at up to 545 watts adds an extra 24 per cent of generating capacity above the average rooftop module[….] It also means that smaller systems can still use fewer panels, which gives installers more flexibility – and provide a better aesthetics[….] Fewer modules mean reduced racking, wiring, and installation time, Aiko says.”

4. New Mexico Legislative Session Ends with Significant Investments in Rivers and Habitat

“[The state budget] includes a $13 million dollar appropriation for the River Stewardship Program, and a $10 million dollar appropriation for the Strategic Water Reserve. [...] 80% of New Mexico’s at-risk bird species are completely riparian-dependent, so these programs are essential for ensuring those birds and the places they need are intact.”

5. In Malawi, farmers rebuild soil and livelihoods through agroecology

““The farmers are currently cutting on cost of fertilizer by over 40% while yielding between 30 and 40 bags of 50 kilograms [110 pounds] of maize per acre, proving agroecology as a sustainable and cost-efficient way to food production,” Chikoko says. […] At the district level, agricultural authorities are increasingly recognizing agroecology as a climate adaptation strategy. […] As a sustainability measure, Chikoko says SPRODETA has constructed a seed bank to preserve local seeds.”

Welcome to my Tuesday morning PSA about plastics!

So--I was walking along the Bolstadt beach approach sidewalk here in Long Beach, WA yesterday afternoon, and I started seeing these little orange pellets on the ground that looked a little bit like salmon roe (but probably weren't). So I picked one up, and it was most definitely rubber. I went around picking up every one I could find, and while I didn't keep exact count I probably amassed 50-60 of them. I took this picture before depositing them in the nearest trash can.

These are airsoft gun pellets, and you can buy them in big jars containing thousands of them. That means that someone who decided that the beach was a great place to shoot their airsoft guns could easily litter the place with countless little bits of plastic rubber in less than an hour. We already have a huge problem here with people leaving trash, including tiny bits of plastic, all over the beach (you should see the gigantic mess after 4th of July fireworks when thousands of people come in from out of town, blow things up, and then leave again without picking up after themselves.)

But these airsoft pellets have a particularly nasty side effect. You know how my first thought was "wow, those look kind of like salmon roe?" Well, we have a number of opportunistic omnivore birds like crows, ravens, and several species of gull that commonly scavenge on the beach, especially along the approaches because people often feed them there. If I can catch the resemblance of an orange airsoft pellet to a fish egg, then chances are there are wildlife that will assume they're edible.

Since birds don't chew their food, they probably won't notice that the taste or texture is wrong--it'll just go down the hatch. And since they can't digest the pellets, there's a good chance they might just build up in the bird's digestive system, especially if the bird eats a large number of them--say, fifty or sixty of them dropped on the ground along the same fifty foot stretch of sidewalk. The bird might die of starvation if there's not enough capacity for food in their stomach--or they might just die painfully of an impacted gut, and no way to get help for it. If the pellets end up washed into the ocean, you get the same issue with fish and other marine wildlife eating them, and then of course the pellets eventually breaking up into microplastic particles.

You can get biodegradable airsoft pellets; they appear to mainly be gray or white in color rather than bright screaming orange and green. But "biodegradable" doesn't mean "instantly dissolves the next time it rains." An Amazon listing for Aim Green biodegradable airsoft pellets advertise them as "Our biodegradable BBs are engineered to degrade only with long-term exposure to water and sun and will degrade 180 days after being used." That's half a year for them to be eaten by wildlife.

I don't know, y'all. That handful of carelessly dropped rubber pellets just encapsulates how much people don't factor in the rest of nature when making decisions, even on something that is purely for entertainment like an airsoft gun. We could have had a lot of the same technological advances we have today, but with much less environmental impact, if we had considered the long-term effects on both other people and other living beings, as well as our habitats. We could have found ways from the beginning to make these things in ways that benefited us but also mitigated any harm as much as possible. Instead we're now having to reverse-engineer things we've been using for decades, and sometimes--like the "biodegradable" airsoft pellets--they still have a significant negative impact.

The perfect polymer? Plant-based plastic is fully saltwater degradable and leaves behind zero microplastics

Researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) in Japan have one-upped themselves in their quest to solve our microplastic problem. In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they report a new type of plastic made from plant cellulose, the world's most abundant organic compound. The new plastic is strong, flexible, and capable of rapid decomposition in natural environments, setting it apart from other plastics marketed as biodegradable. Microplastics are a global contaminant found in nearly every ecosystem, from the soil and the ocean to the animals and plants that live there. They have even been found in human tissue and the bloodstream, where they likely have adverse effects.

Dec 11, 2025

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, approximately 60% of all materials used by the fashion industry are made from plastic. Those polyester stretchy pants you love so much?

They can take up to 200 years to naturally decompose — the same as a plastic straw. But science is embracing new technologies to make our clothes from materials that are biodegradable and less taxing on the environment from start to finish.

One such example is Keel Labs. The startup was founded by Aleks Gosiewski and Tessa Callaghan while they were studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

The two bonded over their shared frustration with textile waste and began the search for a substance that met their criteria: It had to be able to be turned into a fiber, be an abundant and naturally occurring resource, and have existing supply chains. 

Eventually, they turned to the ocean, and that’s where they found their match in kelp.

“Seaweed is one of the most regenerative organisms on our planet and absorbs carbon dioxide in the ocean, similar to trees on land,” Keel Labs explains on its website.

“We combine this with our proprietary formulation to create Kelsun, a bio-based fiber that can be used across non-wovens and traditional textiles industries.”

Kelsun is an all-natural, biodegradable material that is turned into yarns and non-woven textiles like felt. It is naturally flame-resistant and does not contain or create microplastics.

Keel Labs has begun working with brands like Stella McCartney and Outerknown and have released other items like T-shirts and vests, all made from the Kelsun material. 

“We need to get creative and innovative with alternatives, moving beyond the limited materials that the industry has been working with traditionally,” McCartney said at COP28. 

Saype, born Guillaume Legros, is a French artist living in Bulle, Switzerland. A self-taught artist, Saype’s giant biodegradable artworks adorn fields, are best seen by drones and last only days. The artist is represented by MTArt Agency since 2018. Beginning his career as a young graffiti artist, Saype’s work quickly gained recognition and became highly sought after, resulting in him landing his first gallery exhibition at age 16. Saype is a pioneer of the land art movement, focusing upon large scale biodegradable paintings with strong social messages.

Corn Next says the material, derived from renewable corn starch, utilizes a patented fermentation-based process to create a fully biodegradable material with ‘superior versatility and performance’. Unlike traditional plastics and bio-plastics such as PLA and PHA, CornNext-17 apparently retains its natural polysaccharide structure, enabling rapid decomposition within 30 days in natural environments while maintaining the mechanical properties necessary for diverse applications.

The material is said to be suitable for a range of applications including packaging, consumer goods, industrial components and creating compostable tableware, single-use products, food containers.

In a quiet corner of southern Nepal, a small women-run factory is driving a growing movement to replace conventional menstrual pads with biodegradable alternatives – part of grass roots efforts to protect women’s health and the environment while dismantling entrenched taboos around menstruation.

The Miteri Jaibik Pad Udhyog (Miteri eco-friendly pad factory) in Chitwan district’s Gunjanagar has been manufacturing single-use biodegradable pads and reusable cloth pads since 2017, dispelling perceptions that such products are either costly or unhygienic.