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Plastic Recycling January 22, 2025 03:30:32 PM

New Research Aims to Transform Plastic Waste Into High-Value Materials

Paul Ploumis
ScrapMonster Author
The upcycling technology modifies the polymers in discarded plastics, thus creating new materials with improved properties.
New Research Aims to Transform Plastic Waste Into High-Value Materials

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  An inventive process for turning waste plastics into valuable materials has been revealed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). By altering the polymers in used plastics, the upcycling technology produces new materials with better qualities.

The innovative process might be able to alter the future course of the plastic waste industry if it is successful in resolving the global plastic waste problem. According to rough estimates, just 9% of the 450 million tons of plastic that are disposed of each year are properly recycled. Most of the plastic waste is burned or disposed of in landfills or waterways.

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The method works by modifying the polymers of plastic waste to create macromolecules that can be used again in different goods. The researchers used two methods simultaneously. The first method, known as metathesis polymerization, lengthens and opens carbon rings into chains. Chains of polymer subunits are inserted from one polymer chain into another in the second phase, known as cross metathesis.

The procedure is thought to be significantly better than conventional recycling techniques, which reuse polymers that degrade with each melt and reuse. Additionally, compared to conventional recycling, the new method requires less energy and emits fewer emissions.

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