Getting around the additive problem in plastics recycling
2025-05-20
One reason only 10% of plastics are recycled is that a majority of plastics include additives that kill catalysts, stymying chemical recycling. Now, a new study finds that catalytic cracking over solid acid catalysts can stand up to many of the plastic additives on the market. "We need to be able to treat the mess, the real plastic of the landfill with additives and impurities and some soil," says study senior author and University of Delaware professor Dionisios Vlachos.
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