Turning plastic waste into fuel

Plastics are valued for their durability, but that quality also makes them difficult to break down. Tiny pieces of debris known as microplastics persist in soil, water and air and threaten ecosystems and human health. Traditional recycling reprocesses plastics to make new products, but each time this is done, the material becomes lower in quality due to contamination and degradation of the polymers in plastics. Moreover, recycling alone cannot keep pace with the growing volume of global plastic waste.

Now, a University of Delaware-led research team has developed a new type of catalyst that enhances conversion of plastic waste into liquid fuels more quickly and with fewer undesired byproducts than current methods. Featured on the cover of the Sept. 18 issue of Chem Catalysis, the pilot-stage work helps pave the way toward energy-efficient methods for plastic upcycling, reducing plastic pollution and promoting sustainable fuel production.

"Instead of letting plastics pile up as waste, upcycling treats them like solid fuels that can be transformed into useful liquid fuels and chemicals, offering a faster, more efficient and environmentally friendly solution," said senior author Dongxia Liu, the Robert K. Grasseli Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UD's College of Engineering.