One-step reconstruction of plastic waste back to its constituent monomers (ONESTEP)

一个真正的循环塑料经济，废塑料不会进入垃圾填埋场，也不会破坏环境，只有通过开发新的、有效的工艺才能实现，这些工艺可以避免目前回收行业中使用的方法的主要局限性。我们目前所依赖的工艺需要许多昂贵和能源密集型的步骤，可能产生温室气体，并且不能处理许多不同类型的塑料废物，特别是一次性塑料，因为它们回收的经济价值很低。通过使用一种方法，可以有效地将废塑料分解成它们原来的分子成分，然后用它们来重新制造，新的可重复使用的塑料，可以消除废塑料对环境造成的灾难性影响。这项研究计划汇集了催化和电磁学方面的国际专家，目标是开发一个一步的过程，将一系列聚合物转化为它们的组成单体，从而实现完全循环的塑料经济。利用微波频谱提供的节能加热特性和控制，有可能获得目前回收方法无法实现的产量。由于塑料的化学惰性，从聚烯烃中通过一个或多个步骤回收单体的传统热化学方法具有挑战性。现有的单步方法只能产生约20-30%的所需单体，而多步工艺是高能耗的，需要高催化剂负载和700℃以上的温度。微波的独特特性提供了一种更环保、更快的一步工艺，可以在较温和的反应条件下将一系列废塑料中有价值的组成单体的收率提高到70%以上。影响塑料及相关行业的整个生命周期和价值链。这项研究将通过提供真正可持续的循环塑料经济，直接解决塑料废物污染问题。在这里，我们与工业合作伙伴、威尔士政府合作伙伴和公共活动组织no2plastics密切合作，目标是在一个步骤中扩大（中试规模，6kW）原始质量解聚单体的生产，而且没有温室气体排放。随后将从回收的分子组分中高效合成新的高质量聚合物。这项研究的关键是提供(i)催化剂和微波协议，能够将各种不同的聚合物解聚成组成单体，并有针对性地、可控地选择性地切断其他途径无法获得的C-C和C-H键；（ii）可持续、低能耗、零排放的循环塑料经济途径，这将大大有助于减少能源使用、浪费和排放，影响整个生命周期和价值链。

A truly circular plastic economy in which waste plastics do not find their way into landfill, or the environment is only achievable by developing new, efficient processes that can avoid the major limitations of the current methods used in the recycling industry. The processes we rely upon at the moment require a number of costly and energy intensive steps, can produce greenhouse gases, and cannot treat many different types of plastic waste, particularly single-use plastics due to their low economic value of recycling.By using a method that can efficiently break down waste plastics into their original molecular components, then using them to remake, new reusable plastics, the catastrophic effects upon the environment caused by waste plastics can be removed.This programme of research brings together international experts in catalysis and electromagnetism with the goal of developing a one step process to turn a range of polymers into their constituent monomers thereby realising a fully circular plastic economy. Using the energy efficient heating characteristics of and control afforded by the microwave spectrum it is possible to obtain yields unachievable by current recycling methods. Conventional thermochemical recovery of monomers from polyolefins in one or multiple steps is challenging due to the chemical inertness of plastics. Existing single step methods can only yield about 20-30% of the desired monomers, and multiple step processes are highly energy intensive, requiring high catalyst loading and temperatures above 700 C. The unique properties of microwaves offer a greener, faster, one-step process in which it is possible to enhance yields of valuable, constituent monomers to higher than 70% from a range of waste plastics at milder reaction conditions, impacting the entire life cycle and value chain of the plastics and related industries. This research will directly address plastic waste pollution by offering a truly sustainable, circular plastic economy.Here, working closely with industrial partners, and partners from Welsh Government and public campaign group no2plastics, we target scaled-up (pilot scale, 6kW) production of virgin-quality depolymerised monomers, in a single step, and with no greenhouse gas emissions. This will be followed by efficient synthesis of new high-quality polymers from the recovered molecular components. Key to this research is delivery of (i) catalysts and microwave protocols capable of the depolymerisation of a wide range of different polymers into constituent monomers, with targeted and controllable selective scission of C-C and C-H bonds not accessible by other routes, and (ii) a sustainable, low-energy, zero emission route to a circular plastic economy, which will contribute significantly to reduction of energy usage, wastage and emissions, impacting the entire life cycle and value chain.