SBIR Phase I: Plastic Waste Oxidation to Soil Carbon Amendments

SBIR第一阶段项目的更广泛影响将是将某些塑料回收到土壤改良剂中，以改善环境退化和农业健康。塑料垃圾是一种持久性环境污染物，部分原因是缺乏减少这些石化产品循环库存的综合技术，以及塑料衍生和回收产品的相对较低价值。混合塑料垃圾中包含的碳既是一种重要的污染物，也是一种潜在的有价值的替代原料，用于家庭农业和再生退化的土壤。土壤碳是建设土壤健康、农业生产力和粮食安全的关键驱动力，也是长期固碳的重要储存库。该项目对传统上不可回收、低价值的混合塑料垃圾进行修复，并将其转化为高价值的堆肥类材料。这项拟议的研究开发了一种低成本、分布式、分散化的过程，适用于小型、偏远、农村、边缘化和代表性不足的社区，以实现可持续的家庭固体废物管理，并为自给自足的当地农业建立和再生土壤健康。这个SBIR第一阶段项目将扩大和优化塑料氧化过程，该过程采用了一种新型的高效芬顿氧化分子内修饰。水相法利用一种低成本的绿色催化剂，不需要高温或有机溶剂来裂解和氧化各种商业聚合物，生成适合作为土壤微生物基质和土壤有机碳改良剂的生物可用长链脂肪酸。与高度可变的自然生物降解过程相比，该反应通过受控的化学氧化确保了环境应用前的完全修复。这项研究旨在描述这一新的过程，建立一个可扩展的技术经济模型来指导规模化翻译。方法包括近红外光谱跟踪微塑料和塑料垃圾处理中常见的其他有毒成分的消除过程。塑料衍生的环保土壤改良剂将在温室和田间试验中进一步研究，以评估关键的农艺指标，如改良剂-微生物相互作用、土壤健康、生产力和其他。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this SBIR Phase I project will be to recycle certain plastics into soil amendments to improve both environmental degradation and agricultural health. Plastic waste is a persistent environmental pollutant partly due to the lack of comprehensive technologies to reduce the in-circulation inventory of these petrochemical products, and comparably low value of plastic-derived and recycled products. The carbon contained within mixed plastic waste represents both a significant pollutant, but also a potentially valuable alternative feedstock for domestic agriculture and regenerating degraded soils. Soil carbon is a key driver in building soil health, agricultural productivity and food security, as well as a significant reservoir for long-term carbon sequestration. This project remediates traditionally non-recyclable, low-value mixed plastic waste and transforms it into a high value compost-like material. The proposed research develops a low-cost, distributed, decentralized process suitable for small, remote, rural, marginalized and underrepresented communities to achieve sustainable, domestic solid waste management as well as build and regenerate soil health for self-sufficient local agriculture.This SBIR Phase I project will scale and optimize a plastic oxidation process that employs a novel high efficiency intramolecular modification of Fenton oxidation. The aqueous process utilizes a low-cost, green catalyst that does not require high temperatures or organic solvents to cleave and oxidize a wide range of commercial polymers into bioavailable long-chain fatty acids suitable as a soil microbe substrate and soil organic carbon amendment. Compared to the highly variable process of natural biodegradation, this reaction ensures complete remediation before environmental application through controlled chemical oxidation. This research will aim to characterize this novel process towards a scalable technoeconomic model to guide translation at scale. Methods include near-infrared spectroscopy to track the elimination of microplastics and other toxic components common to plastic waste processing. The plastic-derived, environmentally beneficial soil amendments will be further studied in greenhouse and field trials to evaluate key agronomic indicators, such as amendment-microbe interactions, soil health, productivity and others.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.