Model tackles key obstacle to efficient plastic recycling at molecular and reactor scales
Most people who separate their plastic waste for recycling assume the bulk of it will in fact be recycled. But current recycling methods, which "require sorting, grinding, cleaning, remelting and extrusion to obtain plastic pellets, usually lead to lower value materials because of contamination and mechanochemical degradation," the authors of a new study write. As a result, only about 10% of the plastic that makes it to recycling facilities is recycled. The rest is incinerated, sent to landfills or ends up in the environment.
Most people who separate their plastic waste for recycling assume the bulk of it will in fact be recycled. But current recycling methods, which "require sorting, grinding, cleaning, remelting and extrusion to obtain plastic pellets, usually lead to lower value materials because of contamination and mechanochemical degradation," the authors of a new study write. As a result, only about 10% of the plastic that makes it to recycling facilities is recycled. The rest is incinerated, sent to landfills or ends up in the environment.
