In this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Laura Leay interviews Christos Athanasiou from the Georgia Institute of Technology about their approach to the recycling problem from a mechanics-materials perspective. Current recycling approaches can lead to a product with variable properties, which is undesirable. Through a bio-inspired design, Athanasiou’s group built a structure similar to bricks and mortar where the bricks, measuring a few centimeters across, are made from recycled plastic and held together by virgin material, leading to a recycled content of 70%. The stiffness variability was reduced by around 90% compared to using only recycled plastic. This work was published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
