In a landfill, a plastic bottle can take more than a thousand years to break down. But a new process can transform polyethylene plastic in days, using bacteria to eat the waste and then turn it into a ...

Floating at the side of a river that winds through densely populated neighborhoods in Panama City, a 52-foot-long robotic “trash wheel” sucks up plastic from the water and pulls it up a conveyor belt ...

Scientists are using sunlight to turn plastic waste into clean fuels like hydrogen, offering a breakthrough solution to both ...

Scientists turn plastic waste into fuel using sunlight and water in a new study that could change how we manage pollution and energy.

Americans make 294 million tons of trash every year. About half of that goes straight to landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the most common material sent to landfills is food ...

The analysis looked at garbage picked up by more than 500 volunteers at 44 cleanups at National Park Service sites from July through September. Plastic items make up 81 percent of all waste found in ...

Have you ever gotten to the end of, say, a jar of peanut butter and wondered if it should go in trash or recycling? If it’s worth rinsing out? And where will it actually end up? Journalist Alexander ...