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Next-gen plastic: A researcher showing a sample of ocean-degradable plastic at the Riken Center for Emergent Matter Science in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. — Reuters

Researchers in Japan have develo­p­ed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-­day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the Riken Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks down much more quickly and leaves no residual trace.

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