New class of recyclable polymer materials could one day help reduce single-use plastic waste

Hundreds of millions of tons of single-use plastic ends up in landfills every year, and even the small percentage of plastic that gets recycled can't last forever. But our group of materials scientists has developed a new method for creating and deconstructing polymers that could lead to more easily recycled plastics—ones that don't require you to carefully sort out all your recycling on trash day.