The article mentions a hydrophobic coating, like a fence around the plastic: once breached by a scratch (or by being crushed) the coating no longer keeps salt w

The article mentions a hydrophobic coating, like a fence around the plastic: once breached by a scratch (or by being crushed) the coating no longer keeps salt water out. I wonder whether the coating itself is made from something terrible. In principle, though, there's your "push of a button": throw the plastic bottle in a trash compactor, break through the coating, now it dissolves in the sea.