Leveling the cost and carbon footprint of circular polymers that are chemically recycled to monomer

Mechanical recycling of polymers downgrades them such that they are unusable after a few cycles. Alternatively, chemical recycling to monomer offers a means to recover the embodied chemical feedstocks for remanufacturing. However, only a limited number of commodity polymers may be chemically recycle...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science advances 2021-04, Vol.7 (15)
Main Authors: Vora, Nemi, Christensen, Peter R, Demarteau, Jérémy, Baral, Nawa Raj, Keasling, Jay D, Helms, Brett A, Scown, Corinne D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied Sciences and Engineering
INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Materials Science
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Summary:Mechanical recycling of polymers downgrades them such that they are unusable after a few cycles. Alternatively, chemical recycling to monomer offers a means to recover the embodied chemical feedstocks for remanufacturing. However, only a limited number of commodity polymers may be chemically recycled, and the processes remain resource intensive. We use systems analysis to quantify the costs and life-cycle carbon footprints of virgin and chemically recycled polydiketoenamines (PDKs), next-generation polymers that depolymerize under ambient conditions in strong acid. The cost of producing virgin PDK resin using unoptimized processes is ~30-fold higher than recycling them, and the cost of recycled PDK resin ($1.5 kg ) is on par with PET and HDPE, and below that of polyurethanes. Virgin resin production is carbon intensive (86 kg CO e kg ), while chemical recycling emits only 2 kg CO e kg This cost and emissions disparity provides a strong incentive to recover and recycle future polymer waste.
ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/SCIADV.ABF0187