Over 550 billion tons of plastic are created every year in the United States. \Much of that waste is not recycled, but instead gets into landfills where it begins the slow process of breaking down. University of Illinois researcher John Scott works at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and is conducting in-depth research on microplastics and nanoplastics that are getting into water and other places that it shouldn't be. This video shows some of that research in a thought-provoking discussion about the plastic problem.