The world produces around 359 million tons of plastics each year. Plastics are certainly a big problem, but they don't necessarily have to be. There are many ways we could set plastics on a different lifecycle. One that I have been working on is turning plastics into a hardy, reliable and sustainable building material.
Most people believe that plastics recycling is severely limited: only a few types can be recycled at all. This is not surprising. The proportion（比例） of plastics that are recycled is very small. But all polymers（聚合物） are recyclable from the technical level. Some of them can be used again and again to produce the same goods. Some can technically be processed again into new materials for different applications.
The problem is that recycling much of this plastic waste is not profitable at present. But the amount of these materials all over the world is large and keeps on growing. What if this plastic waste could be used to produce something useful to the society? Many universities and business people are attempting to do this. Most solutions target mixed plastic waste and suggest applications different from the original ones. For example, several groups have developed building materials made of plastic waste. Plastics are strong, durable, waterproof, light and recyclable—all key features for construction materials. So what if all of this plastic waste could be turned into building materials for low-income populations? Existing initiatives are promising, but not yet reproducible（可复制的） on an industrial scale.
I study plastic waste with the aim of finding interesting ways to remove it from the environment. From agricultural waste to concrete waste, mixed with recycled plastics, there are many ways to obtain materials to produce bricks and other useful elements for buildings. So perhaps plastics are not necessarily the problem. They can be part of a pathway towards a more sustainable way of living.
