We use a lot of plastic. We also produce a lot of carbon dioxide emissions. Neither or these things are good but new research has discovered a way to to create plastics from emissions which may help at least one of those problems.

Using carbon dioxide emissions to make plastics isn’t a new idea. The ability was discovered some time ago however, the process was too costly to be viable. It was more of a, oh, look what we can do, sort of thing. New, easily sourced catalysts have made the process much more attainable.

The new process employs nickel and phosphorus which can be found easily and are inexpensive to boot. Using these, carbon dioxide can be converted to a number of compounds that we use in our everyday life, like plastic. Check out the link for the full process.