Continuous low energy recycling of plastics

The challenge

Plastics, such as LDPE, HDPE, PP and PET, are present in the items we use every day. However, this ubiquitous use has resulted in a significant plastic pollution problem.

Commodity plastics, such as polyolefins, are renowned for their stability and their inertness. While these properties make polyolefin plastics great for having a predictable and reliable product that consumers expect, the stable polymer backbone and the lack of chemical handles makes the degradation challenging.

What could happen if we transform these waste plastics materials into a valuable chemical resource?

Our response

Our research is aiming to develop a process to break down waste polyolefin plastic to transform the waste into a valuable resource.

We’re investigating low energy intensive and scalable methods to break down polyolefins, as well as PET, into valuable small molecules.

Our approach is to convert current small-scale batch depolymerisation into a continuous process. Through collaborations across multi-disciplinary research areas, the team will design catalysts, engineer the flow chemistry set up, optimise static mixer design for processing polymer melts/solutions, and investigate electrochemical methods to depolymerise plastic.

Impact

These small molecule products could be used across a range of chemical industries, enabling an environmental problem to be tackled whilst simultaneously generating an economic prospect.

The goal is to develop a continuous process for breaking down waste plastic to produce a valuable chemical resource.