Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
July 22, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2025
Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours

Science

Reuters
04 June, 2025, 01:25 pm
Last modified: 04 June, 2025, 01:56 pm

Related News

  • Milestone plane crash: Bangladesh’s global friends mourn, offer support
  • Japan's shaky government loses upper house control
  • Japan's PM vows to stay on despite bruising election loss
  • Japan heads to polls in key test for Prime Minister Ishiba
  • How Dhaka’s waste transfer stations became a source of stench, pollution

Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours

While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace

Reuters
04 June, 2025, 01:25 pm
Last modified: 04 June, 2025, 01:56 pm
A researcher shows a sample of ocean-degradable plastic is immersed in saltywater is seen during a demonstration at the Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) of Japanese research institution Riken in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, Japan May 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Manami Yamada
A researcher shows a sample of ocean-degradable plastic is immersed in saltywater is seen during a demonstration at the Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) of Japanese research institution Riken in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, Japan May 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Manami Yamada

Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace.

At a lab in Wako city near Tokyo, the team demonstrated a small piece of plastic vanishing in a container of salt water after it was stirred up for about an hour.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

While the team has not yet detailed any plans for commercialisation, project lead Takuzo Aida said their research has attracted significant interest, including from those in the packaging sector.

Scientists worldwide are racing to develop innovative solutions to the growing plastic waste crisis, an effort championed by awareness campaigns such as World Environment Day taking place on June 5.

Plastic pollution is set to triple by 2040, the UN Environment Programme has predicted, adding 23-37 million metric tons of waste into the world's oceans each year.

"Children cannot choose the planet they will live on. It is our duty as scientists to ensure that we leave them with best possible environment," Aida said.

Aida said the new material is as strong as petroleum-based plastics but breaks down into its original components when exposed to salt. Those components can then be further processed by naturally occurring bacteria, thereby avoiding generating microplastics that can harm aquatic life and enter the food chain.

As salt is also present in soil, a piece about five centimetres (two inches) in size disintegrates on land after over 200 hours, he added.

The material can be used like regular plastic when coated, and the team are focusing their current research on the best coating methods, Aida said. The plastic is non-toxic, non-flammable, and does not emit carbon dioxide, he added.

Top News / World+Biz / Asia

Japan / plastic / Pollution

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Students dispersed from Secretariat, now assembling in Stadium Market area
  • Photo: Collected
    2 advisers, CA press secy leave Milestone School 'through backdoor exit' amid protests
  • Photo: TBS
    Milestone plane crash: 69 still hospitalised, death toll stands at 31

MOST VIEWED

  • Training aircraft crashes at the Diabari campus of Milestone College on 21 July 2025. Photo: Courtesy
    BAF jet crash at Milestone school: At least 20 including children, pilot dead; 171 hospitalised
  • Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam. Photo: Collected
    Pilot tried to avoid disaster by steering crashing jet away from populated area: ISPR
  • An idle luxury: Built at a cost of Tk450 crore, this rest house near Parki Beach in Anwara upazila has stood unused for six months. Perched on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli, the facility now awaits a private lease as the Bridge Division seeks to put it to use. Photo: Md Minhaz Uddin
    Karnaphuli Tunnel’s service area holds tourism promises, but tall order ahead
  • Bangladesh declares one-day state mourning following plane crash on school campus
    Bangladesh declares one-day state mourning following plane crash on school campus
  • 91-day treasury bills rate falls 1.13 percentage points to 10.45% in a week
    91-day treasury bills rate falls 1.13 percentage points to 10.45% in a week
  • Air Force F-7 BJI training aircraft crashes at Milestone College in Uttara
    Air Force F-7 BJI training aircraft crashes at Milestone College in Uttara

Related News

  • Milestone plane crash: Bangladesh’s global friends mourn, offer support
  • Japan's shaky government loses upper house control
  • Japan's PM vows to stay on despite bruising election loss
  • Japan heads to polls in key test for Prime Minister Ishiba
  • How Dhaka’s waste transfer stations became a source of stench, pollution

Features

Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Milestone plane crash: Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help

3h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Uttara, Jatrabari, Savar and more: The killing fields that ran red with July martyrs’ blood

19h | Panorama
Despite all the adversities, girls from the hill districts are consistently pushing the boundaries to earn repute and make the nation proud. Photos: TBS

Ghagra: Where dreams rise from dust for Bangladesh women's football

2d | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Water-resistant footwear: A splash of style in every step

2d | Brands

More Videos from TBS

Tariff deal: Dhaka to submit draft today, US yet to confirm meeting date

Tariff deal: Dhaka to submit draft today, US yet to confirm meeting date

12m | TBS Insight
No scope for hiding information: Air Force chief

No scope for hiding information: Air Force chief

47m | TBS Today
Students complain about not reporting the exact number of bodies

Students complain about not reporting the exact number of bodies

1h | Videos
Education Secretary to be removed in the face of student protests

Education Secretary to be removed in the face of student protests

1h | TBS News Updates
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net