From surgical gloves to water bottles, shopping bags and chewing gum, every part of our daily lives includes plastic. They epitomise convenience – their durability makes our dependence on them ...

A persistent claim shared by high-profile sources such as the United Nations, (archived) (archived) World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (archived) says ...

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, thanks to the overwhelming rise in production of disposable plastic products. Plastic pollution is most visible in ...

In the oceans, the most widespread type of plastic pollution may be the kind you can’t see. A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature estimates that the North Atlantic Ocean alone contains ...

Think of ocean plastic and you may picture bottles and bags bobbing on the waves, slowly drifting out to sea. Yet the reality is more complex and far more persistent. Even if we stopped all plastic ...

New research has shown that blue sharks’ intestines act like temporary holding tanks, trapping fibers long enough to build up significant amounts. Their epic migrations mean they can spread these ...

Beneath the ocean’s surface, bacteria have evolved specialized enzymes that can digest PET plastic, the material used in bottles and clothes. Researchers at KAUST discovered that a unique molecular ...