Platform chemicals from plastics

Recycling

Nature Reviews Chemistry (2023)Cite this article

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Mechanical recycling of polymers — converting polymer waste into new polymer feedstock without changing the chemical structure — is far more challenging than it may first appear. It requires strict separation of different polymer types — which is challenging to enforce when dealing with consumer waste streams — and even then, the recycled products are often of lower quality than the parent plastic. The result is that globally, only around 9% of plastic waste is recycled, with the remainder ending up in landfill or polluting our water.

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Li, C. et al. Upcycling of non-biodegradable plastics by base metal photocatalysis. Chem https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2023.07.008 (2023)

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Nature Reviews Chemistry http://www.nature.com/natrevchem/

Stephen G. Davey

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Correspondence to Stephen G. Davey.

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Davey, S.G. Platform chemicals from plastics. Nat Rev Chem (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00539-1

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Published: 24 August 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00539-1

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