These sulphur-containing plastics can be broken down more easily than conventional plastics, potentially paving the way for new recycling methods. Sulphur atoms enhance the sustainability of polymers because the bonds between carbon and sulphur atoms are easier to break than the bonds between carbon and other carbon or oxygen atoms. This allows sulphur-containing plastics to degrade under relatively mild conditions. Until now, the building blocks and reaction conditions used to produce these sulphur-containing plastics had to be specifically tailored and optimised for each combination of components. “There was no blueprint for producing sustainable plastics with sulphur under standardised conditions,” Plajer explains.