Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emission plastics by a circular carbon economy

Abstract

Reducing net emission The great majority of plastics in current use are sourced from fossil fuels, with additional fossil fuels combusted to power their manufacture. Substantial research is focused on finding more sustainable building blocks for next-generation polymers. Meys et al . report a series of life cycle analyses suggesting that even the current varieties of commercial monomers could potentially be manufactured and polymerized with no net greenhouse gas emissions. The cycle relies on combining recycling of plastic waste with chemical reduction of carbon dioxide captured from incineration or derived from biomass. —JSY

Chemically recyclable polyesters from CO2, H2, and 1,3-butadiene

“… 1 Utilization of CO 2 as a main chemical feedstock to synthesize commercial solid polymers has great potentials in mitigation of CO 2 emissions. 2 To date, however, only ca. 0.001 gigaton of CO 2 has been used as a chemical feedstock in the production of commercial CO 2 -based polymers, primarily polycarbonates and polyols.…”

Is the Plastic Pandemic a Greater Threat to Humankind than COVID-19?

“…Recent research conducted by Bardow and Meys et al investigates a thorough utilization of biomass and CO 2 capture technique to circularize the carbon flow via the proposal of maximal recycling of plastic waste, providing a cradle-to-grave assessment for the year 2050. 4 Though such an extensive analysis will prove extremely useful across different branches of science and technology, an additional analysis for the upcycling of plastic instead of conventional recycling is required to be examined. Furthermore, the ecological impact of plastic waste growth and the fate of the world during such unprecedented circumstances such as a worldwide pandemic has not been added in the assessment, which is extremely important from the industrial, governance, and geographical standpoint, as evident from the industrial and geopolitical disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic specifically related to the use of plastic products.…”

Opportunities and challenges for the application of post-consumer plastic waste pyrolysis oils as steam cracker feedstocks: To decontaminate or not to decontaminate?

“…During recent years, energy and carbon efficiency became increasingly important in the transition from a linear to a circular economy. In this scenario, recycling of plastics plays a key role due to their energy and material intensive production, their abundant use and their long lifetime as a pollutant ( Meys et al, 2021 ).…”