New enzymes can digest plastic waste in three days
Chemical giant DuPont is transforming from the architect of the plastic age into its cleanup crew, using lab-grown proteins to erase decades of waste.
In 1935, DuPont chemist Wallace Carothers spent months trying to mimic the strength of natural silk, eventually conducting 1,000 experiments to create nylon. This single invention birthed a $10 billion market for synthetic fibers, but it also left a legacy of materials that take centuries to break down. After nearly a century of perfecting these indestructible polymers, the company is now engineering biological tools to undo them.
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