"A plastic plant isn't much interest to a minnow, but a zebrafish will spawn over one, " says Dr. Paull.

WSJ: Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Zebrafish Do It��Just Too Little

According to the Container Recycling Institute, U.S plastic recycling rates have been in decline for the past 10 years (some of this may have to do with the fact that waste is increasingly being shipped to places like China, which now boasts the world's biggest plastic recycling plant in Beijing).

CNN: All about plastic

The use of cellulose and cardanol, both plant resources, as the plastic's primary components produces a plastic that features a high plant component ratio of more than 70%.

ENGADGET: NEC builds a better bioplastic from plant stems and cashew nut shells

The workers, who molded and packed plastic containers in a plant owned by Pactiv, a subsidiary of Reynolds Group Holdings, based in Lincolnshire, Ill.

FORBES: Plastic Workers Raise Grievances Against Reynolds

In New Zealand Scion Research works to convert the waste stream from pulp and paper processing into a blend of microbial cell wall debris and plastic called polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA. Plant a PHA flower pot into the ground and and it biodegrades.

FORBES: Revving Up Nature's Engines

The faster a plant can identify and sort its plastic, the more money it should make giving it a much better chance of operating in the black.

ECONOMIST: Recycling

Kris Hedstrom, the director of CHEP's Innovation Center, which adjoins the plant, is wearing earplugs, protective glasses and hard plastic shoe covers over his toes.

FORBES: Beast of Burden

We envisage a typical large-scale plant having an average capacity of 10, 000 tonnes of plastic waste per year.

FORBES: Written by Matt Hickman

They're sent to Texas or to a contract plant in China for reprogramming, cleaning, a new keypad or a new plastic case.

FORBES: Magazine Article