- A research team from Japan’s RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science has developed a new plant-based plastic that fully dissolves in seawater within hours.
- Made primarily from carboxymethyl cellulose and choline chloride — both FDA-approved food additives — the material is strong, flexible, and capable of decomposing rapidly.
- Because its ingredients are inexpensive and widely available, scientists believe the plastic could be produced at scale, marking a major step toward reducing global plastic waste.
Microplastics are becoming a major problem. According to the UN Environment Program, an estimated 2.7 million tons of microplastics entered the global environment in 2020. That number is expected to double by 2040. These microplastics have made their way into the fish we eat, the vegetables we pluck from the ground, and even into human brains and penile tissue. While experts are still working to understand what that exposure means for health, a few very smart scientists are already working to find alternatives. That includes one group out of Japan who say they’ve invented a brand-new material that could one day replace some traditional plastics without leaving any microplastics in sight.
In late 2025, a team from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), led by Takuzo Aida, published their findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, describing a plant-based plastic they designed using plant-derived cellulose. They explained that it is “strong, flexible, and capable of rapid decomposition in natural environments, setting it apart from other plastics marketed as biodegradable.”
While they noted that plastics labeled as “biodegradable” are not new, technically neither is their invention. Cellulose-based plastics have also been around for a while; however, they are usually made with other materials that degrade only under very specific industrial conditions, such as high heat or in industrial composting facilities. That means that if they wind up in the oceans, they will likely shed microplastics and take several lifetimes to fully degrade.
So, instead, this team set out to build a plastic that would fall apart almost instantly upon contact with saltwater. They did so by focusing on a critical chemical bond that breaks in seawater, allowing the material to dissolve rather than flake apart.
Their new material also improves on previous designs by using carboxymethyl cellulose, a plant-based material that’s already FDA-approved and widely used in food products like ice cream as a thickening agent.
The researchers paired it with a second compound that they explained helps bind cellulose chains together, forming a network strong enough to hold up yet flexible enough to dissolve when it’s time. They also added choline chloride, another FDA-approved substance commonly used as a food additive, to maintain flexibility. The team even created a small plastic bag from the material and, in testing, saw it dissolve in saltwater within hours.
“While our initial study focused mostly on the conceptual, this study shows that our work is now at a more practical stage,” Aida shared in a statement. And, because the ingredients are already common, approved for use in consumer products, and inexpensive, they believe their new material could be rolled out rather quickly.
Of course, they note that while this new material won’t replace all plastic overnight, it is still a giant step forward for the betterment of our planet without requiring humans to sacrifice a lot of convenience.
“Nature produces about one trillion tons of cellulose every year,” Aida added. “From this abundant natural substance, we have created a flexible yet tough plastic material that safely decomposes in the ocean. This technology will help protect the Earth from plastic pollution.”
