Chemists close in on greener way to make plastics
Share Conventional polyethylene production, powered by fossil fuels, could one day be replaced by chemical reactors that rely on renewable energy and consume carbon dioxide. AARON M. SPRECHER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES Chemists close in on greener way to make plastics Feb. 24, 2021 , 12:15 PM Plastics are a climate problem. Making precursors for common plastics, such as ethylene and carbon monoxide (CO), consumes fossil fuels and releases plenty of carbon dioxide (CO 2). In recent years, chemists have devised bench-top reactors called electrochemical cells that aim to reverse the proc...