A Polymer Scientist Wrestles with the Frustrations of Plastic Packaging

Well before I became NIST’s lead for the circular economy — or the idea that we should keep materials in use and reuse for as long as possible rather than throwing them away —  I was a polymer scientist and an observer of plastic packaging. Polymers are very large molecules and the main ingredient in most plastics and many other modern materials. Plastics and polymers are an essential part of life, but we can be more thoughtful about how much of them we use and discard. As a consumer, I li...