Researchers develop new method to tackle polyethylene waste

An international team of experts has developed a way of using polyethylene waste PE as a feedstock and converted it into valuable chemicals via lightdriven photocatalysisMost of the plastics used today end up being discarded and accumulated in landfillsPE is the most widely used plastic in the world Daily food packaging shopping bags and reagent bottles are all made from PE It is also the largest proportion of all plastic waste and primarily ends up in landfills posing a threat to global environment and ecologyThe team led by experts from the University of Adelaide in Australia upcycled polyethylene plastic waste into ethylene and propionic acid with high selectivity using atomically dispersed metal catalystsPlastic waste is an untapped resource that can be recycled and processed into new plastics and other commercial products said Prof Shizhang Qiao from the varsitys School of Chemical EngineeringCatalytic recycling of PE waste is still in early development and is practically challenging because of chemical inertness of polymers and side reactions arising from structural complexities of reactant molecules Qiao addedIn the paper published in the journal Science Advances the team used an oxidationcoupled roomtemperature photocatalysis method to convert the waste into valuable products with high selectivityNearly 99 per cent of the liquid product is propionic acid alleviating the problems associated with complex products that then require separationRenewable solar energy was used rather than industrial processes that consume fossil fuel and emit greenhouse gases the expert saidThis wastetovalue strategy is primarily implemented with four components including plastic waste water sunlight and nontoxic photocatalysts that harness solar energy and boost the reaction A typical photocatalyst is titanium dioxide with isolated palladium atoms on its surface Qiao saidCurrent chemical recycling for PE waste is operated at high temperatures greater than 400 degrees centigrade that yield complex product compositionsEthylene is an important chemical feedstock that can be further processed into a variety of industrial and daily products while propionic acid is also in high demand owing to its antiseptic and antibacterial propertiesThe teams work aims to address contemporary environmental and energy challenges contributing to a circular economy It will be of use in further scientific research waste management and chemical manufacturingOur fundamental research provides a green and sustainable solution to simultaneously reduce plastic pollution and produce valuable chemicals from waste for a circular economy said QiaoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever