Is Biodegradable Plastic Actually Possible? | Out of Our Elements

The Earth is covered in plastic—and we keep making more of it...
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What can we do about our plastic waste dilemma? Out of Our Elements hosts Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel join chemist Malika Jeffries-EL in her Boston University lab to explore just what it takes to break down familiar plastics like legos and styrofoam. They also learn why plastic isn’t always recycled—even when it does make it into those familiar blue bins.

Biodegradable plastics on the market today may sound like a fantastic solution to our problem. But there’s a caveat: Outside of special composting facilities, they’re difficult to break down and they can still introduce harmful microplastics into the environment. Berkeley scientist Ting Xu shows how her lab is innovating a truly biodegradable plastic that fully breaks down plastic into its constituent molecules—in nature—in a matter of WEEKS.

To learn more, check out NOVA’s 3-part documentary series Beyond the Elements, where host David Pogue investigates the molecules all around us, from the Indestructible to the Molecules of Life, to the Reactions that transform our world: https://to.pbs.org/3oLqbtJ

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You can seek out our hosts here:
:: Caitlin Saks ::
Twitter:   / caitlin_saks  

:: Arlo Pérez Esquivel ::
Instagram:   / perezarlo  

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Produced and Hosted by: Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez
Editor: Jay Colamaria
Associate Producer: Angelica Coleman
Associate Researcher: Christina Monnen
Science Advisor: Matthew Eddy
Animation: Edgeworx Studios
Executive Producers: Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt

Executives in Charge for PBS: Adam Dylewski, Jess Kasza
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: Niki Walker
Digital Editor: Hanna Ali
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Digital Managing Producer: Kristine Allington
Coordinating Producer: Elizabeth Benjes
Director of Public Relations: Jennifer Welsh
Legal and Business Affairs: Susan Rosen and Eric Brass

Archival:
Storyblocks
“Snap 40” by M.Danny25 Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
“Microplastic” by Oregon State University, Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
UC Berkeley

Music: APM

Funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the NOVA Science Trust.

Original Production Funding for Out of Our Elements provided by
Anne Ray Foundation, a Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropy

Out of Our Elements is a production of GBH.
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