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Out of Our Elements
Is Biodegradable Plastic Actually Possible?
Season 1
Episode 4
The Earth is covered in plastic—and we keep making more of it. Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel join chemist Malika Jeffries-EL in her Boston University lab to explore just what it takes to break down plastics. Berkeley scientist Ting Xu shows how her lab is innovating a truly biodegradable plastic that fully breaks down plastic into its constituent molecules—in nature—in a matter of WEEKS.
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