A new chemical process is being used to convert old plastic bottles into vanilla flavouring.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh believe the breakthrough will help waste plastic become a valuable resource which can be used to make high value products and provide a greater incentive for it to be collected and recycled.
As reported in The Guardian, demand for vanillin already exceeds the supply from natural vanilla beans and some 85% of vanillin is currently made from chemicals derived from fossil fuels.
This new development therfore has “very exciting implications for the circular economy.”
