Japanese scientists were thrilled to receive significant interest from the packaging industry over their new seawater-degradable plastic.

Breaking apart into nutritious compounds for ocean-borne bacteria in just 2 to 3 hours depending on the size and thickness, the invention could be a major solution to reducing plastic waste in the environment.

GNN has previously reported that the amount of plastic waste in the ocean is currently overestimated by 3,000%, making the remaining total a much-more addressable challenge.

To that end, researchers at a lab in Wako city near Tokyo used two ionic monomers to form a salt bond for the basis of the polymer plastic. Despite being strong and flexible like normal petroleum-based plastics, the material is highly vulnerable to salt and immersion in sa

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