Newlight Technologies
Ep. 34 The Solution to microplasticsPlastics are extremely useful - they’re lightweight, low-cost, and high-performance. But there are two big problems: a lot of carbon is emitted and it breaks down into small pieces that are hazardous to our health. Newlight has built an alternative from nature - a biodegradable replica using captured greenhouse gases.
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Why We Made this Film
The discovery of microplastics in human lungs instantly became one of the year's most high-profile climate stories. We’ve known that our plastic pollution has reached corners of the world as high as Mt. Everest and as low as the Marinas Trench - but the news was still equal parts scary and startling. It’s clear that not only is this an environmental threat, but a public health one as well.
While there is a global consensus that we need to do something about plastics, it’s been an addiction that’s tough to quit. They’re cheap, easy to make, and have a wide range of uses; simply quitting plastic is not a viable solution.
What struck us about Newlight is that the startup offered an alternative similar to today’s products but had no adverse effects on the environment. Newlight uses the natural processes that occur in the ocean and replicates them on land to make an alternative to plastic that is both biocompatible and degradable.
Newlight’s technology could help us significantly cut down on plastic waste and provide an off-ramp for our plastic addiction.
