Catalysis and Chemical Engineering Global Conference

With plastic pollution emerging as a top environmental issue, there’s an ever-pressing need for alternative solutions in recycling and reusing plastics. Catalysis, a versatile tool in chemical engineering, plays a pivotal role in plastic recycling, offering promising solutions to convert plastic waste into valuable resources. Catalysis accelerates chemical reactions without being consumed in the process, and in recycling plastics, specific catalysts are used to break down plastic polymers into smaller molecules. These molecules can then be transformed back into raw materials or entirely new products, such as fuels or chemicals for other industries.

One promising process in this area is pyrolysis, where plastic waste is heated in the presence of a catalyst and converted into fuels or other hydrocarbons. This not only reduces the volume of plastic waste but also creates energy or raw materials that can be reintegrated into the production cycle, supporting a more circular economy. Another catalytic process, hydrocracking, combines hydrogen with catalysts to break down plastics, yielding high-quality products like lubricants and oils.

Catalysis offers numerous advantages in recycling plastics, providing more efficient, cost-effective methods that reduce reliance on fossil fuels, thereby lessening plastic waste's environmental impact. Catalytic recycling processes generally use less energy and produce fewer greenhouse gases than non-catalytic methods. Harnessing the millions of tons of plastic generated annually and transforming them through catalysis into new products could dramatically reduce the pollutants and waste accumulating in landfills and oceans, encouraging a cleaner, more sustainable world.