Bee Nest Plastic Offers Blueprint for Faster-Degrading Synthetic Plastics

Hundreds of millions of metric tons of plastics are produced each year, and most of them end up in landfills or polluting natural environments after use. These materials can persist for decades to centuries.

Researchers are actively searching for ways to reduce this environmental burden. A recent study suggests that the answer may lie in nature.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study shows that a natural plastic produced by bees could provide design insights for creating plastics that degrade in soil much more quickly.