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The Role of Catalysts in Waste Polymer Upcycling: Recent Developments and Future Trends
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Researchers reviewed recent advances in catalyst-driven chemical recycling and upcycling of synthetic and natural polymers, highlighting how tailored catalysts enable selective depolymerization into monomers or high-value chemicals, opening pathways to circular plastic economies beyond mechanical recycling.
The increasing environmental burden of plastic and polymer waste necessitates transformative recycling strategies. This review explores the critical role of catalysts in enabling efficient chemical recycling and upcycling of synthetic and natural polymers with an emphasis on industrial innovations. Emphasizing catalytic depolymerization techniques—such as pyrolysis, gasification, oxidation, hydrocracking, hydrogenolysis, solvolysis, and enzymatic catalysis—the paper highlights recent advances in catalyst design and reactor technologies. This research highlights the interplay between polymer structure and catalyst selection, demonstrating how variations in backbone chemistry can shape catalytic pathways and ultimately affect material performance. Key developments include the use of metal-zeolite systems, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), hybrid chemo-enzymatic pathways, and AI-optimized processes for selective and scalable conversion of plastic waste. The study outlines the potential of catalytic systems to enhance resource circularity by converting mixed or contaminated waste streams into valuable monomers, fuels, and chemicals. Emerging trends in AI-driven catalyst discovery and process optimization are also examined, positioning catalysis at the forefront of sustainable polymer waste management and circular economy innovation. Organized by depolymerization mechanism to highlight key catalytic pathways, this review integrates representative industrial applications to illustrate both recent breakthroughs and the varying technological maturity of scalable chemical recycling strategies for converting complex waste streams into valuable products.
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Catalysis for the Upcycling of Polymers
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This review surveys catalytic strategies — including heterogeneous, biocatalytic, and electrochemical approaches — for breaking down waste plastics into high-value chemicals and raw materials, presenting an overview of how these upcycling technologies address the growing challenge of plastic waste disposal and resource recovery.
Advanced Catalytic Strategies for Plastic Depolymerization: Mechanistic Insights, Catalyst Engineering, and Sustainable Upcycling Pathways
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Researchers reviewed the full landscape of catalytic plastic depolymerization strategies — homogeneous, heterogeneous, biocatalytic, photocatalytic, and pyrocatalytic — assessing how nanostructured materials, metal-organic frameworks, enzyme engineering, and emerging plasma or electrocatalytic methods can convert waste polymers into reusable monomers and fuels.
Advanced Catalytic Strategies for Plastic Depolymerization: Mechanistic Insights, Catalyst Engineering, and Sustainable Upcycling Pathways
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Researchers reviewed catalytic approaches to breaking down plastic waste — including homogeneous, heterogeneous, biocatalytic, photocatalytic, and plasma-assisted methods — cataloguing the mechanistic pathways, catalyst design strategies, and emerging technologies needed to convert polyethylene, polystyrene, PET, and polypropylene into reusable monomers and fuels.
Chemical Recycling and Upcycling of Waste Plastics: A Review
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Researchers reviewed chemical recycling and upcycling technologies for plastic waste, concluding that these approaches — including pyrolysis, gasification, and solvolysis — offer more effective and scalable solutions than landfilling or incineration by recovering valuable feedstocks from otherwise difficult-to-recycle polymers.
Valorisation of plastic waste via metal-catalysed depolymerisation
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This review covers metal-catalysed depolymerisation approaches for recycling and upcycling waste plastics back into monomers or value-added chemicals, highlighting recent advances in catalyst design that improve selectivity and yield for common polymer types.
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