Plastic pollution doesn\u2019t seem to be getting better. But what if we could engineer plastics to get rid of themselves?<\/p>\n
A team of scientists in China recently demonstrated this somewhat comically idealistic solution, reporting their findings\u00a0in a recent paper published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials. This new \u201cliving\u201d plastic, as the team describes it, contains plastic-degrading microbes that activate and self-destruct on command. Although this isn\u2019t the first time scientists have tested similar materials, the new experiment looks promising. A proof-of-concept test with a wearable plastic electrode confirmed that, as intended, the plastic degraded completely within two weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe realization that traditional plastics persist for centuries, while many applications, like packaging, are short-lived, led us to ask: Could we build degradation directly into the material\u2019s life cycle?\u201d explained Zhuojun Dai, a study co-author and a synthetic biologist at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology in China, in a statement.<\/p>\n Plastics are composed primarily of polymers\u2014long, repeating chains of molecules that, once chained together, prefer to stay that way. This makes plastic very durable but difficult to break apart. Even if time passes and larger plastics break down, the smaller, particulate microplastics persist and cause various problems for both living beings and the environment.<\/p>\n![\"Living](\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/05\/living-plastic-plastic-busting-enzymes-wearable-electrode-1280x1009.jpg\")
Chained to last<\/h2>\n