From microplastics clogging up our oceans to landfills leaching out dangerous chemicals, plastic waste is a serious and growing problem for human health and the environment. We need to recycle more, and crucially, recycle better.

Most plastic that is recycled is melted and remoulded into lower-quality products such as carpet fibres and garden planters, before eventually ending up in landfill or the incinerator. This is downcycling rather than proper recycling. Current methods don’t enable the recovery of the original components of the waste – that means they cannot be truly recycled back into new high-quality plastic.

A 2026 study from the University of Manchester marks a potential turning point in our ability to recycle better. The study focused on polycarbonate, a type of hard plastic. These plastics are common, but notoriously difficult to degrade as they are specifically designed for strength and durability for use in safety glasses, electronics and as machine parts.

The Manchester authors report a way to rapidly digest polycarbonate back to its original building blocks. They did this by creating an enzyme........

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