Let’s face it, the last four years have been a war on science. Thanks to you and your support, we were able to fight back by publishing 4 papers this year. Good science is the foundation of good decision-making, and that’s been our role as an organization for over a decade.
Our next research study is understanding the degradability of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate). While we advocate first and foremost for a shift towards a reuse/refill economy, we will need transitional materials like PHA to get there. PHA is a truly biodegradable alternative to plastic at scale, but we need to better understand how it biodegrades in real environments over time. Bioplastics have a place in society, but there’s a lack of consumer and market confidence in the environmental consequences of bioplastics as waste. In BAN List 2.0, we verified the misleading degradability claims of PLA bioplastic products, but one PHA product in that earlier study had very promising results.
With 10 years of researching plastic pollution solutions, 5 Gyres is doing our part to combat the silent global health crisis that is plastic pollution. By raising awareness and educating corporations and governments about the ecological, economic, and social harm plastic pollution causes, we can hope for real change.
We are providing critical validation of alternatives to plastic.
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