Old CDs and LEGO bricks become sponges that pull drinking water from the air

At the University of Vienna, chemists Anastasiia Naryshkina, Paul Schweng and Robert Woodward have given plastic waste a second job. They converted discarded packaging, old CDs and even LEGO bricks into soft polymer 'sponges' that soak up moisture straight from the air — almost 60% of their own weight in humid air, and 20% even in desert-dry conditions — then release the water when gently warmed, for example by sunlight, ready to be used again cycle after cycle. In dry places where water is precious and plastic waste is plentiful, that pairing matters. The study is published in Chem Circularity.

SDG 6 · Clean water and sanitation — Mechanism: tech innovation