Step into the supermarket and there's plastic around just about everything, even mangoes — and not all that packaging will be properly disposed of.

So with around 20 million tonnes of plastic polluting the environment each year, not to mention the potential health effects of microplastics, is there a better, more environmentally friendly alternative?

You can binge more episodes of the Lab Notes podcast with science journalist and presenter Belinda Smith on the ABC Listen app (Australia). You'll find episodes on animal behaviour, human health, space exploration and so much more.

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Featuring:

• Edward Attenborough, chemical engineer and chemist at Monash University

More information:

Bacterial species-structure-property relationships of polyhydroxyalkanoate biopolymers produced on simple sugars for thin film applications

This episode of Lab Notes was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Taungurung people.