Researchers build hard, self-healing plastic that can be reshaped and recycled

Rigid plastic is very useful, but difficult to recycle. At least it was, until the discovery of so-called vitrimers. Using those vitrimers, Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have laid the foundation for a new type of sustainable, hard plastic that is easy to deform and grows back together on its own. Although researchers only have a prototype so far, in the future it could be an excellent replacement for the hard plastics we use now. It could for example replace the plastics in building materials, plastic cups, dashboards, laptops and toys.