Scientists Develop Highly Recyclable Plastic

Since I'm on a technology kick, here's an article from the NY Times blog that speaks to researchers at Stanford and IBM developing a plastic that can be "continuously recycled". I don't know about you but I was unaware that plastic couldn't be recycled indefinitely and typically is recycled once then ends up in a landfill. Reason being is that there is a metal oxide in the polymers used to form the plastic that continues to breakdown each time it is recycled. This "breakdown" ultimately makes the plastic weaker and unusable. The researchers at IBM and Stanford have substituted an organic catalyst for the metal oxide, which according to them, "makes certain types of new polymers that have other properties plastics don't have." This will allow the plastic to be recycled numerous times. IBM and Stanford, Mother Earth thanks you!