If you’ve lived a very lucky life, you may never have considered burning plastic for cooking and heating. But a study published in Nature Cities highlights how millions of households in developing nations are turning to plastic as a fuel source. Why? Because they can’t afford clean energy like gas or electricity, and traditional fuels like wood and charcoal are hard to come by.
But burning plastic releases dangerous toxins. In Nigeria, 13% of households reported using garbage as cooking fuel, and soil and food samples in Indonesia showed alarming toxin levels linked to plastic burning. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, many of which already struggle with waste management. With global plastic consumption expected to triple by 2060, this is a crisis waiting to explode.
But turns out there’s a way that a spoonful of sugar could help the plasticky medicine go down.
A team at DGIST, led by Professor Chiyoung Park, has developed a sugar-derived catalyst that could revolutionize plastic recycling. Using cyclodextrin (a molecule extracted from sugar), molybdenum disulfide, and fullerene, the team created a catalyst that breaks down additives that make plastic recycling a nightmare.
But beyond burning or recycling it, we need to look into replacements for plastic. A team at the University of Washington has figured out how to turn coffee grounds into a paste for 3D printing. They then use the paste to create objects like packing materials or even small statues, then inoculate them with mushroom spores. The mushroom roots, or mycelium, then grows over the coffee grounds, turning them into a compostable alternative to plastic.
But burning it, recycling it, and replacing it still doesn’t do anything for the plastic that’s already in use. Unless…I dunno, we could find a way to use it in construction or something, right?
Well it turns out that researchers at Newcastle University have done just that. They developed a mortar blend made from recycled plastic and silica aerogel which not only reduces plastic waste but also improves insulation, cutting heat loss by up to 55% compared to conventional mortar.
The best part? It meets international construction standards, making it a viable, eco-friendly option for energy-efficient buildings.
We can all agree that plastic is a problem, but it helps to also think of it as an opportunity. From finding safer alternatives to burning plastic for fuel, to turning coffee grounds into compostable materials, to building better homes with recycled plastic, science is showing us the way forward.
So next time you sip your coffee or look at a plastic bottle, remember: the fight against plastic is far from over, but we’ve got some pretty smart people—and mushrooms—on our side.
Articles Referenced
https://phys.org/news/2025-02-plastic-cooking-emerging-environmental-crisis.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-02-sugar-derived-catalyst-boosts-plastic.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-02-3d-coffee-mushroom-compostable-plastic.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-02-mortar-blend-recycled-plastic-insulation.html