BOULDER, Colo. — The United States produces more than 30 million tons of plastic every year, but less than half of that is recycled, according the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Although more than 480 billion plastic bottles are produced every year, the EPA claims only around 30 percent of those bottles get recycled.
The plastic bottles that are being recycled are largely being recycled into something that ends up in the trash anyway, said CU Boulder chemist Oana Luca.
"A plastic bottle usually ends up being something like one of those grocery plastic bags that end up ultimately in the landfill," Luca said.
Luca and doctoral student Phil Pham have been working to solve this problem for months.
"We're concerned about the increasing accumulation of plastic waste in the environment," Luca said.
The chemists focused on a certain type of plastic called PET. It's one of the most common plastics we use, found in all those water bottles, blister packs and even some polyester fabrics, including carpeting and clothing.
Through their research, they found a new way to recycle PET plastics using electricity. An electrical voltage breaks down the plastics into their basic building blocks.
The process is so simple, the chemists said, that you can watch the plastic literally break apart in front of your eyes.
"The moment I saw the plastic being broken now, it was so exciting," said Pham.
The plastic is broken down into molecules that can be made into plastic bottles, not just flimsy bags, all over again.
The team admitted that they have a lot more work that needs to be done. Their goal is to couple this type of recycling with renewable energy like solar, to make the process even more sustainable, and apply it to those not-so-easy-to-recycle plastics as well.
"I think it's got great promise… but we're not there yet, " said Luca. "We're well on our way."
9NEWS+
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.