‘Single-Use’ Secures Collins’ Word of the Year Spot

Nancy Bush and Caitlin Dinh grew up a continent apart but with a common interest: chemistry. Though they took divergent roads to arrive at USC and only met for the first time this fall, they quickly developed a highly effective working relationship in the lab of Megan Fieser, Gabilan Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Together, they’ve been researching a method for making PVC recyclable—and their efforts have been so successful that they won first place in this year’s Wrigley Sustainability Prize, awarded by the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.

The IIT-Madras said its researchers have developed a sustainable antimicrobial wrapping material that can prevent packaged food contamination by bacteria as well as reduce the plastic waste.