Haven't signed into your Scholastic account before?
Teachers, not yet a subscriber?
Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine.
You are being redirecting to Scholastic's authentication page...
Announcements & Tutorials
Renew Now, Pay Later
Sharing Google Activities
2 min.
Setting Up Student View
Exploring Your Issue
Using Text to Speech
Join Our Facebook Group!
1 min.
Subscriber Only Resources
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Science World magazine.
Article Options
Presentation View
Ice Cream Flavored With... Plastic?
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Would you eat ice cream flavored with plastic? It probably doesn’t sound appetizing. But for her final project at design school, Eleonora Ortolani wanted to see if she could turn plastic pollution into a tasty treat.
Ortolani partnered with a scientist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who had genetically engineered bacteria to break down plastic and produce vanillin. This compound is responsible for vanilla’s classic flavor. Most vanilla found in supermarkets is actually synthetic vanillin, created in a lab from crude oil—the same raw material that is used to make plastic.
Ortolani added the bacteria-processed vanillin to ice cream. The dessert is now on display in a freezer at her college in England. Instead of being disgusted by food made with plastic, says Ortolani, “we need to have conversations around these innovations.”
People generate more than 500 million tons of plastic waste worldwide each year. This circle graph shows where that waste goes after it’s thrown out. What percentage of plastic does not get recycled?
SOURCE: OUR WORLD IN DATA