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Chemical Recycling of Used PET by Glycolysis Using Niobia-Based Catalysts
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Researchers achieved 100% PET conversion back to its BHET monomer using an inexpensive sulfated niobia catalyst at 195°C, offering a low-toxicity closed-loop recycling route.
Plastic production has steadily increased worldwide at a staggering pace. The polymer industry is, unfortunately, C-intensive, and accumulation of plastics in the environment has become a major issue. Plastic waste valorization into fresh monomers for production of virgin plastics can reduce both the consumption of fossil feedstocks and the environmental pollution, making the plastic economy more sustainable. Recently, the chemical recycling of plastics has been studied as an innovative solution to achieve a fully sustainable cycle. In this way, plastics are depolymerized to their monomers or/and oligomers appropriate for repolymerization, closing the loop. In this work, PET was depolymerized to its bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) monomer via glycolysis, using ethylene glycol (EG) in the presence of niobia-based catalysts. Using a sulfated niobia catalyst treated at 573 K, we obtained 100% conversion of PET and 85% yield toward BHET at 195 °C in 220 min. This approach allows recycling of the PET at reasonable conditions using an inexpensive and nontoxic material as a catalyst.
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This review surveys advances in chemical recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)—including glycolysis, hydrolysis, enzymatic depolymerization, and tandem catalysis—as strategies to recover monomers and close the plastic carbon loop. Since PET is a major source of microplastic pollution through bottle and textile degradation, effective chemical recycling pathways are critical for reducing its long-term environmental persistence.
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Researchers demonstrated that solid fillers recovered from PET water bottle labels—primarily calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide—can serve as catalysts to chemically recycle the same PET bottles via glycolysis, achieving 100% PET conversion and a 95.8% yield of the reusable monomer BHET in just 1.5 hours.
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"This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the reaction mechanisms and kinetics underlying five chemical recycling methods for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — ammonolysis, aminolysis, hydrolysis, alcoholysis, and glycolysis — finding that glycolysis with heterogeneous catalysts and microwave-assisted heating represents the most promising pathway for efficient monomer recovery. Researchers conclude that advancing novel catalysts that exploit synergic reaction mechanisms is critical for making PET chemical recycling economically viable at industrial scale."
PET Glycolysis to BHET Efficiently Catalyzed by Stable and Recyclable Pd-Cu/γ-Al2O3
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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were engineered as stable, recyclable catalysts to convert waste PET into bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET), a key monomer for chemical recycling. The MOF catalysts achieved high conversion efficiency and could be reused multiple times without significant loss of activity, improving the economics of PET glycolysis. This approach represents a promising route toward scalable, circular recycling of polyester plastics.
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This study investigates the pyrolysis of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET), examining how temperature and process conditions influence the breakdown products and their potential as recovered fuels or chemical feedstocks. The results offer insights into optimizing thermal recycling as an alternative to landfill disposal for PET plastic waste.
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