The rosin and turpentine found in evergreen trees contains hydrocarbons similar to those found in petroleum-based products, making them an ideal starting point for greener plastics. Although current renewable plastics are inferior in performance to petroleum-based products, professor Chuanbing Tang believes that his research can help change that. He and his team are studying the macromolecular structure of conifer-derived polymers to understand why they perform differently than conventional plastics and get the kind of results that manufacturers have been getting from petroleum-based plastics for decades.