IBM researchers on Tuesday said they have discovered a way to make Earth-friendly plastic from plants that could replace petroleum-based products tough on the environment.

Although Grossman is not a trained chemist, she has done a remarkable job of compiling a tremendous amount of technical information and translating it into language nonscientists can appreciate.

Car components made of fermented grain starch could soon become an everyday reality, following the development of a revolutionary type of bioplastic.

Manufacturers are using a variety of chemical additives and new materials to reduce the environmental impact of tyres. These tyres will also increase fuel efficiency by 8% compared to standard tyres - thus reducing a vehicle’s carbon-dioxide emissions by almost a tonne over the tyre’s lifetime.

Bisphenol-A may soon hit the list of known toxicants under California's Proposition 65, the law that lets state regulators restrict the use of toxic chemicals and require warnings on product labels. What does the science say, and what are practical steps people and companies are taking to go BPA-free?

When the French beauty giant L'Oréal considers launching a new product, it has always sought to fulfill characteristics such as safety, innovation, and performance. In recent years, that list has been expanded to include sustainability.

GreenCentre is already well on its way to becoming a major force in helping to transform Canada's chemical manufacturing sector through the development of green products and industrial technologies.

Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide.

Suresh Narine, a Trent professor, has been awarded the $1.25-million Ontario Research Chair in Green Chemistry and Engineering. He'll put that funding to use to phase out petrochemicals in food, lubricants, waxes and chemicals, and replace them with biomaterials.

Two new studies suggest tobacco could be used not for a product promoting lung cancer and heart disease, but rather for one that creates a more climate-friendly fuel, lifting pressure from the South's tobacco farmers.

Liquid aspirin could be possible using pharmaceutically active ionic liquids claim researchers in Northern Ireland.

The European Commission has launched an initiative to help chemical companies switch to renewable feedstocks and energy sources as part of a European Union drive to persuade chemical producers, to make more innovative use of existing technologies.

Jack Grushcow, who founded a company that pioneered e-mail, believes that the next big thing will be plants. He's hot on the trail of genetically modified crops able to replace the petroleum used to make plastic and engine oils.

A new technique converts 60 percent of sunlight energy absorbed by an electrode into fuel.

A sticky species of beetle has inspired researchers to develop a device that uses switchable 'liquid bridges' to attach to a variety of surfaces. The device can hold its own weight plus small payloads.

The American Chemical Society has issued a new official policy statement that calls for more research and education on endocrine disruption.

Nearly all humans, and a large proportion of wildlife, are contaminated with environmentally persistent long-chain perfluoroalkyl compounds. That revelation, around for a decade now, has brought dramatic change to the fluorochemicals industry.

The molecular equivalent of a Venus flytrap could capture water-borne nuclear waste. So say Mercouri Kanatzidis and Nan Ding from Northwestern University who have synthesised a sulphide-containing material with a flexible structure that mimics the flytrap's jaws.

Faced with escalating oil prices that are likely to continue rising, the chemical industry is trying to find alternative sources for a number of the chemical ingredients derived from petroleum and other fossil-sources.

Japanese researchers have created a rapidly self-healing hydrogel material, composed largely of water, which they say could have applications in regenerative medicine and green chemistry.