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The polyethylene microplastic pollution commonly found in wastewater can be extracted to create electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Beads of microplastic, like these ones in cosmetic facial scrubs, are accumulating in the world’s waters STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Beads of microplastic, like these ones in cosmetic facial scrubs, are accumulating in the world’s waters

STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Fragments of plastic that pollute water sources across the world and are thought to be harmful to our health could be recycled to make electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.

Jinsub Choi at Inha University in South Korea and his colleagues have found a way to extract microplastics made of polyethylene – the most common type of plastic – from contaminated water and turn them into electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. This is the type of battery …

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