THAT WAS EASY:

Plastics and climate change an inextricably linked. Plastics are made from petroleum, and nearly every stage of their production creates greenhouse gas emissions. If plastic production and use grow as usual, by 2030 the emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year, equivalent to emissions from nearly 300 large coal-fired power plants, according to the Center for International Environmental Law.

In an effort to close the carbon cycle, chemical engineers in Korea have harnessed bacteria to efficiently turn carbon dioxide into a biodegradable plastic. This could be "an exceptional strategy for lowering CO2 emission and producing environmentally friendly bioplastics," they write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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