Before you read this, look around your room. How much of your surroundings are made of 

plastic? The chair that you sit on, the desk, the casing on your computer and monitor, the pen 

you use, the carpet, the shoes you wear, your clothes, your bag, the soda bottle you sip from, 

the furniture, the walls and even the plumbing—how many items can you identify that are 

plastic?

Depending on where you reside, the majority of the things around you might be made of 

different types of plastic. Now, if you're outside, various parts of your car, the buses and trains, 

even the interior of airplanes are mostly plastic. Currently there are not many methods to 

recycle plastics efficiently without compromising quality. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that 

not a day goes by without news of microplastics in our oceans and possibly in our food supply.

A beacon of hope was recently lit at Shinshu University where Professor Yasuhiro Kohsaka 

and his graduate student Akane Kazama discovered acid hydrolysis of a vinyl polymer broke 

down into salicylic acid and acetic acid. These acids form aspirin through some reactions. Vinyl 

is the second most common plastic in the world today. Previous recyclable vinyl had been too 

unstable to work with at room temperature, and was not suitable for practical use.

The team at Shinshu plan to study the reaction mechanism in-depth which they hope will 

provide insight into real world applications for recyclable vinyl polymers. If it can become cost 

effective to recycle vinyl on an industrial scale, we will be one step closer to solving the global 

plastic waste problem.