A new chemical process can break down a variety of plastics into usable propane - a possible solution to our inability to effectively recycle many types of plastic. Credits : Image: Courtesy of the researchers. Edited by MIT News.
A new chemical process can break down a variety of plastics into usable propane - a possible solution to our inability to effectively recycle many types of plastic. Credits : Image: Courtesy of the researchers. Edited by MIT News. Cobalt-based catalysts could be used to turn mixed plastic waste into fuel, new plastics, and other products. The accumulation of plastic waste in the oceans, soil, and even in our bodies is one of the major pollution issues of modern times, with over 5 billion tons disposed of so far. Despite major efforts to recycle plastic products, actually making use of that motley mix of materials has remained a challenging issue. A key problem is that plastics come in so many different varieties, and chemical processes for breaking them down into a form that can be reused in some way tend to be very specific to each type of plastic.
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