Chemical upcycling of PET: A mini-review of converting PET into value-added molecules

Research Article
Open access

Chemical upcycling of PET: A mini-review of converting PET into value-added molecules

Weina Yang 1*
  • 1 King’s College London, London, United Kingdom, SE19NH    
  • *corresponding author Alice.study.ya@gmail.com
Published on 21 July 2023 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2755-2721/7/20230462
ACE Vol.7
ISSN (Print): 2755-273X
ISSN (Online): 2755-2721
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-61-4
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-62-1

Abstract

With the increasing consumption of single-use plastics, a large number of petrochemical resources are used as raw materials, and hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic waste are produced every year. Although there are lots of methods that have been developed to solve this issue by recycling plastic waste, none of them can recover the value of the waste in an efficient way that is less economical cost and less harmful to the environment. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely produced single-use polymers. It is challenging to recover the value through mechanical recycling due to the degrading of properties during reprocessing. Chemical upcycling/recycling is an alternative to convert the polymer back to the monomer with less environmental effect, which has lower energy demand. Hydrolysis is one of the common methods in chemical upcycling; it can convert PET waste into value-added materials such as H2 fuel. This paper mainly focuses on the method that converts PET to value-added chemicals through hydrolysis in recent years, so as to offer some references for future researches.

Keywords:

Chemical Upcycling, Polyethylene terephthalate, Value-added Molecules

Yang,W. (2023). Chemical upcycling of PET: A mini-review of converting PET into value-added molecules. Applied and Computational Engineering,7,229-233.
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References

[1]. Awadelkarim M.A., Evaluation of plastics recycling process, Khartoum state, 2016.

[2]. Vinnakota K., Chemical Recycling of Poly (Ethylene Terephthalate) and its Co-polyesters with 2, 5-Furandicarboxylic Acid using Alkaline Hydrolysis: The University of Toledo, 2018.

[3]. Masoumia M., Rahimib F., Akbaria S., Different methods for returning PET into the economic cycle: A review, 2022.

[4]. Sinha V., Patel M.R., Patel J.V., PET waste management by chemical recycling: a review. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 2010,18(1):8-25.

[5]. Schroeer A, Littlejogn M, Wilts H. Just one word: refillables. OCEANA DOI. 2020;10.

[6]. Rorrer N.A., Nicholson S., Carpenter A., Biddy M.J., Grundl N.J., Beckham G.T. Combining Reclaimed PET with Bio-based Monomers Enables Plastics Upcycling, Joule, 2019, 3(4):1006-27.

[7]. Meys R., Frick F., Westhues S., Sternberg A., Klankermayer J., Bardow A. Towards a circular economy for plastic packaging wastes – the environmental potential of chemical recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2020,162:105010.

[8]. Arias JJR, Thielemans W. Instantaneous hydrolysis of PET bottles: an efficient pathway for the chemical recycling of condensation polymers. Green Chemistry, 2021, 23(24):9945-56.

[9]. Perugini F., Mastellone M.L., Arena U. A life cycle assessment of mechanical and feedstock recycling options for management of plastic packaging wastes, Environmental Progress. 2005, 24(2):137-54.

[10]. Ragaert K., Delva L., Van Geem K. Mechanical and chemical recycling of solid plastic waste. Waste Management, 2017, 69:24-58.

[11]. Vollmer I., Jenks MJF., Roelands MCP., White R.J., van Harmelen T., de Wild P., et al. Beyond Mechanical Recycling: Giving New Life to Plastic Waste. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, 59(36):15402-23.

[12]. Jing Y., Wang Y., Furukawa S., Xia J., Sun C., Hülsey M.J., et al. Towards the Circular Economy: Converting Aromatic Plastic Waste Back to Arenes over a Ru/Nb2O5 Catalyst. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60(10):5527-35.

[13]. Messick D., Fan M., De Brey C.. Global sulfur requirement and sulfur fertilizers, FAL—Agric Res, 2005(283):97-104.

Cite this article

Yang,W. (2023). Chemical upcycling of PET: A mini-review of converting PET into value-added molecules. Applied and Computational Engineering,7,229-233.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Materials Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (CONF-MCEE 2023), Part II

ISBN：978-1-915371-61-4(Print) / 978-1-915371-62-1(Online)
Editor：Ioannis Spanopoulos, Niaz Ahmed, Sajjad Seifi Mofarah
Conference website: https://www.confmcee.org/
Conference date: 18 March 2023
Series: Applied and Computational Engineering
Volume number: Vol.7
ISSN：2755-2721(Print) / 2755-273X(Online)

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References

[1]. Awadelkarim M.A., Evaluation of plastics recycling process, Khartoum state, 2016.

[2]. Vinnakota K., Chemical Recycling of Poly (Ethylene Terephthalate) and its Co-polyesters with 2, 5-Furandicarboxylic Acid using Alkaline Hydrolysis: The University of Toledo, 2018.

[3]. Masoumia M., Rahimib F., Akbaria S., Different methods for returning PET into the economic cycle: A review, 2022.

[4]. Sinha V., Patel M.R., Patel J.V., PET waste management by chemical recycling: a review. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 2010,18(1):8-25.

[5]. Schroeer A, Littlejogn M, Wilts H. Just one word: refillables. OCEANA DOI. 2020;10.

[6]. Rorrer N.A., Nicholson S., Carpenter A., Biddy M.J., Grundl N.J., Beckham G.T. Combining Reclaimed PET with Bio-based Monomers Enables Plastics Upcycling, Joule, 2019, 3(4):1006-27.

[7]. Meys R., Frick F., Westhues S., Sternberg A., Klankermayer J., Bardow A. Towards a circular economy for plastic packaging wastes – the environmental potential of chemical recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2020,162:105010.

[8]. Arias JJR, Thielemans W. Instantaneous hydrolysis of PET bottles: an efficient pathway for the chemical recycling of condensation polymers. Green Chemistry, 2021, 23(24):9945-56.

[9]. Perugini F., Mastellone M.L., Arena U. A life cycle assessment of mechanical and feedstock recycling options for management of plastic packaging wastes, Environmental Progress. 2005, 24(2):137-54.

[10]. Ragaert K., Delva L., Van Geem K. Mechanical and chemical recycling of solid plastic waste. Waste Management, 2017, 69:24-58.

[11]. Vollmer I., Jenks MJF., Roelands MCP., White R.J., van Harmelen T., de Wild P., et al. Beyond Mechanical Recycling: Giving New Life to Plastic Waste. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, 59(36):15402-23.

[12]. Jing Y., Wang Y., Furukawa S., Xia J., Sun C., Hülsey M.J., et al. Towards the Circular Economy: Converting Aromatic Plastic Waste Back to Arenes over a Ru/Nb2O5 Catalyst. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60(10):5527-35.

[13]. Messick D., Fan M., De Brey C.. Global sulfur requirement and sulfur fertilizers, FAL—Agric Res, 2005(283):97-104.

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