Oregon State, U.S. Dept. of Energy researchers take key step toward big gains in plastics recycling

Read the full story from Oregon State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Researchers including an Oregon State University College of Engineering faculty member have taken a key step toward greatly expanding the range of plastics that can be recycled.

The findings, published today in Science, are important because plastic waste is a massive problem both globally and in the United States, where only about 5% of used plastic is recycled, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which led the study.