Scientists Found A Way To Break Down Plastic Using Artificial Sunlight

On Wednesday, scientists announced that they had found a new way to reduce the amount of plastic waste. What they have in mind is to use artificial sunlight to break them down to chemicals which can help to generate power.

Plastic waste is piling up on land as well as the sea and they have already have devastating effects on the environment. Several nations are under fire for not putting enough effort into solving this pressing issue.

The said experts based in Singapore and they said they could turn plastic into formic acid, which we can feed to power plants to make electricity. This method is environmentally friendly and also cost-effective.

The scientist from Nanyang Technological University blends chemicals with plastic to make a solution. This is when artificial sunlight kicks in and breaks down the solution.

The plastic in the experiment was successfully broken down after six days. The experts said that they hoped the process can happen under sunlight in the future.

We have had some other method to recycle plastic, but they require the compound to be melt by fossil fuels, which can worsen the environmental issues.

However, the scientists only test a small amount of these synthetic materials in their research. And Soo said that it could be challenging for us to have the same result on a much larger scale.

The method calls for more funding and effort to be perfected. And in the tests, what the scientists used was pure plastic, not the waste type we usually see littering the sea and land.

With around one million bottles made from plastic purchased every minute around the world, we may have to prepare ourselves for an environmental crisis that can have a serious effect on our planet and our lives.