Japan invents 'environment friendly' plastic that dissolves in sea water in hours

Researchers in Japan have recently developed an environment-friendly alternative to conventional plastic that can fully dissolve in salt water or sea water in hours without leaving any microplastics behind, the BBC reported.

Currently available recyclable plastics don't break down in water and some plastic waste can take more than 500 years to break down at all. In comparison, the new alternative developed by scientists at the Riken research institute in Japan began to break down within hours when placed in salt water and when put into soil, it degraded in 10 days. While decomposing in soil, it also produced a chemical similar to fertilisers, tests showed.

"With this new material, we have created a new family of plastics that are strong, stable, recyclable, can serve multiple functions, and importantly, do not generate microplastics," Takuzo Aida, who led the study, told the publication.

Japan is one of the world's biggest plastic waste producers, thanks to its love of packaging. Its obsession with packaging has cultural roots related to concepts of "presentation and respect, especially when giving gifts,"  Azby Brown, author of Just Enough: Lessons from Japan for Sustainable Living, Architecture, and Design told the publication. The tradition of wrapping objects conveys "the regard you have for the other person." In the modern retail context, packaging indicates good customer service: "Customers expect it," Brown added. "People want to know that the food is protected, not bruised or soiled. The notion of cleanliness is very important here."