Mixed plastics can be converted into useful chemicals.Nearly 80% of plastic waste ends up in landfill or lingers in the environment. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have pioneered a method to convert a traditionally unrecyclable mixture of plastic waste into useful chemicals, providing a new way to combat global plastic pollution.
The plastic deconstruction process developed by ORNL selectively produces valuable chemicals from mixed plastic waste. Image credit: Tomonori Saito, MD Arifuzzaman, and Adam Malin, ORNL/U.S. Department of Energy
The technology, co-invented by Tomonori Saito of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and former postdoctoral researcher Md Arifuzzaman, uses a particularly efficient organic catalyst to selectively deconstruct various plastics, including mixtures of various consumer plastics. Arifuzzaman currently works at Re-Du Corporation and is a current Innovation Crossroads Fellow.
Producing chemicals from plastic waste requires less energy and releases fewer greenhouse gases than conventional oil production. Scientists say this pathway provides a crucial step towards achieving a net-zero society.
Saito, the corresponding author of the research report published in Materials Horizons, said: "This concept provides efficient and low-carbon chemical recycling of plastics, providing a promising strategy for establishing closed-loop recycling of plastics."