CSIR developing water treatment, biodegradable plastic solutions

Most of the plastics used in South Africa are nonbiodegradable, especially in the packaging industry, and end up in landfills, posing environmental threats and health concerns, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) polymer modification group leader Dr Avashnee Chetty says. Unpacking various technologies that the CSIR is developing at the CSIR Tech Day, in Pretoria, on Tuesday, she noted that there was a need to replace the synthetic polymers that are petroleum based, with natural polymers, in plastics.