Microwave-driven upcycling of single-use plastics using zeolite catalyst

Abstract

The chemical upcycling of plastic represents an attractive approach of using plastic waste as feedstock in promoting the circular economy and decarbonizing the chemical industry. Here we report a one-step microwave-assisted heterogeneous catalysis approach for the deconstruction of plastic into valuable monomers. A high BTX aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylene) yield of 44.7% was achieved using ZSM-5 catalyst at a low temperature of 300 °C under atmospheric pressure. The very nature of microwave initiation enhances the transformation of intermediates via the desirable cyclization/aromatization routes whilst preventing the random thermal cracking of plastic. This proof-of-concept heralds an exciting new era of applications for the responsible and sustainable recycling of waste plastic, in which plastic are efficiently converted back to high-value petrochemical products.