Try to go an hour without touching something plastic. Come on, I dare you. The stuff is everywhere. Think about it. Everything from your toilet seat to the electronic devices you constantly use ...

Plastic trash lining a mountain trail might not seem like the start of a chemistry breakthrough, but for Yuwei Gu, it was.

We don’t often think of our clothing as plastic, but much of it is. Polyester, nylon, acrylic and other synthetic fibers are commonplace in the blended fabrics we wear every day. As a result, textiles ...

Plastic is cheap to make and shockingly profitable. It’s everywhere. And we’re all paying the price. On a Saturday last summer, I kayaked up a Connecticut river from the coast, buoyed by the rising ...