Environment News

At the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Dr. Peter Nguyen and his team are advancing SPEEDR, an innovative approach to building circularity into plastic life cycles. SPEEDR focuses on engineering microbes that can both degrade commonly used PET plastics and convert the resulting materials into PHB, a fully compostable bioplastic. Using a machine learning-guided enzyme engineering approach rooted in synthetic biology, the team is developing a system in which plastics can be repeatedly broken down and rebuilt. The Wyss Institute recently spotlighted this work, underscoring its potential to create a novel circular plastic lifecycle. Gerstner Philanthropies’ support of Dr. Nguyen’s research reflects our commitment to advancing scalable, science-driven solutions to address plastic pollution.

In partnership with Global Methane Hub’s Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator, Gerstner Philanthropies has awarded funding to Dr. Ratul Chowdhury of Iowa State University, to support research aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock. The project brings together collaborators from Texas A&M University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop an AI-driven computational framework that identifies compounds capable of lowering methane production during digestion. By targeting the microbial processes behind enteric fermentation, the research seeks to discover safe, effective inhibitors that do not compromise animal health or productivity. Findings from this work will enable farmers to to customize the diet of ruminant animals to produce less methane during digestion.

Dr. Win Cowger, executive director of the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research, was selected by The Pew Charitable Trusts as the first recipient of the 2026 Pew-Gerstner Fellowship in Ocean Plastics Research, a new fellowship established by the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation and Gerstner Philanthropies. As one of seven international researchers awarded a Pew Marine Fellowship this year, Cowger will receive $150,000 over three years to enhance the capabilities of Open Specy, an open-source tool he developed to help researchers worldwide classify and analyze different types of plastic pollution. Cowger will build a robust reference library and develop new algorithms to improve the identification of nanoplastics, small microplastics, and leachates in the marine environment. He will also lead training workshops to help others use these tools for risk assessments, studies to identify pollutant sources, and interventions to address plastic pollution. “Spectroscopy is the backbone of microplastic analysis,” Cowger said. “We are developing new spectroscopy techniques to look at particles smaller than we have ever been able to analyze before.” The 2026 fellows join a distinguished community of more than 200 Pew marine fellow alumni dedicated to advancing ocean science and promoting the sustainable use of marine resources. The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation supports midcareer scientists and other experts selected by an international panel of leaders in marine science and conservation. Alumni form an active community that promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing worldwide.

MIT engineers are developing construction-grade beams, trusses, and other structural elements using recycled plastic, advancing a potential alternative to traditional wood-based framing. In recently published work, AJ Perez and David Hardt designed a 3D-printed floor truss system made from recycled plastic. In load tests, the printed floor withstood over 4,000 pounds, exceeding key building standards, while the plastic components weigh significantly less than comparable wood pieces and can be printed in minutes. The team is now working on printing additional building elements and combining them into full frames for modest-sized homes. Their goal is to address the global housing shortage by tapping into the enormous and growing supply of plastic waste. “We’ve estimated that the world needs about 1 billion new homes by 2050. If we try to make that many homes using wood, we would need to clear-cut the equivalent of the Amazon rainforest three times over,” said AJ Perez. “The key here is: We recycle dirty plastic into building products for homes that are lighter, more durable, and sustainable.”

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a simple, low-cost method to improve plastic recycling. By using a common organic peroxide, the team found a way to bind otherwise incompatible plastics—producing stronger, more versatile recycled materials. The breakthrough, led by Dr. Geoffrey Coates, offers a practical path to reducing plastic waste at scale. The findings were published May 19 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “The dream is, if you can make a really rigid polymer that’s also really tough, then you can make packaging that uses less material, yet has the same sort of properties,” said Dr. Coates. “That’s one of the other big applications for this technology.”