The problem of plastic pollution has been piling up for decades, and finding ways to solve it has become an issue of top priority. Millions of tons of plastic are produced around the globe every year, and half of these are single-use items that are only used once, but stay in nature for hundreds of years. Sharon Barak, a chemical engineer from Israel, found a way to reduce the period of plastic decay from centuries to minutes.

Here at Bright Side we were happy to learn that the planet now has a groundbreaking way to fight plastic pollution, and here’s how it works.

Sharon Barak quit a plastic manufacturing company where she used to work to help the world fight pollution.

We all use plastic items in our everyday life, and now it’s probably impossible to imagine life without them. But conventional plastic is not eco-friendly and when thrown away it can stay in nature for decades and even centuries posing a threat for both animals and people. According to experts, the average time to biodegrade is 50 years for plastic cups, 200 years for straws, and 450 years for plastic bottles. Chemical engineer Sharon Barak set a goal to make a product that would feel, look, and function like plastic, and dissolve in water doing no harm to nature at the same time. And she did it!

The plastic substitute Sharon invented functions as plastic, but dissolves in water in minutes.

Sharon and her team spent a lot of time mixing a lot of different components, until they finally found the right formula. The “fake” plastic Sharon invented consists of 100% eco-friendly materials that easily dissolve in water and become part of nature. The product is so safe and natural, that you can even drink its water solution. If a bag made of this product accidentally gets into the ocean, it will become part of it in just a few minutes, posing no threat to sea animals, unlike an ordinary plastic bag.

Additionally, this new invention doesn’t need an elaborate process for recycling. When you’ve used an item, and you don’t need it anymore, you can simply throw it down the drain. As the team’s website says, the manufacturing process is not that complicated either — regular plastic bag making machinery can be adjusted to manufacture this innovative ocean-saving product.

Now Sharon and her team are developing their start-up for a cleaner and safer future for all of us.

Sharon sees a huge potential in this biodegradable plastic substitute that she has developed. It can be used for food wrapping, bottle manufacturing, and any other purposes that regular plastic is used for. Sharon and her team are working hard to introduce their invention to the world, and they believe that mass production of the eco-friendly “fake” plastic will make the world a better place to live.