Enhanced Feedstock Recycling Of Post-Consumer Plastic Waste

Feedstock recycling of waste plastics is becoming more crucial as a method to convert plastics back into a source of useful platform chemicals. Although thermal cracking presents easier options, the products have limited utility and present a higher energy burden than the method proposed in this paper, that of catalytic hydrocracking a mildly exothermic process. This paper reports the use of metal loaded zeolite catalysts at much reduced temperatures (200 degrees C - 350 degrees C) to convert mixed plastic waste at significantly shorter reaction times (typically 5 min), making the continuous processing of polymer waste a possibility.