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With the refinery closing, the main industry at the plant is now the production of chemicals like ethylene, polyethylene and polypropylene, which are components in the manufacture of plastics.

The company's single-use coffee pods — also known as K-cups — are made of polypropylene plastic, a material that experts warn is not as recyclable as consumers have been led to think.

This became possible through the use of random copolymers of polyethylene glycol, which adsorbs water well, and polypropylene glycol, which adsorbs water slightly less well.

To get the mass, the team measured the total surface area of the plastic particles and incorporated a standard measure of thickness and density based on the most common microplastic waste types: polyethylene and polypropylene.

Polyolefins are a family of thermoplastics that include polyethylene — the material used to make single-use and “reusable” plastic bags — and polypropylene — the ubiquitous plastic that holds our yogurts and forms microwaveable dishes and car bumpers.