94% Plastic Recycled In 4 Hours: Scientists Unveil Breakthrough Method Powered By Air Moisture

In a groundbreaking development that could help address the global plastic crisis, scientists have unveiled a new method to break down plastic waste using moisture from the air. The process involves an inexpensive catalyst that effectively breaks down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most commonly used plastic in the polyester family. 

Once the PET bonds are broken, the material is exposed to ambient air, which converts it into monomers-basic building blocks of plastics. These monomers can then be recycled or upcycled into more valuable materials, offering a cleaner and more sustainable solution than existing recycling methods.

The innovative technique promises to be safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly, presenting a hopeful approach to creating a circular economy for plastics. The findings were recently published in Green Chemistry, a respected journal by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

"The US is the number one plastic polluter per capita, and we only recycle 5 percent of those plastics," said Northwestern's Yosi Kratish, the study's co-corresponding author. "There is a dire need for better technologies that can process different types of plastic waste. Most of the technologies that we have today melt down plastic bottles and downcycle them into lower-quality products. What's particularly exciting about our research is that we harnessed moisture from air to break down the plastics, achieving an exceptionally clean and selective process. By recovering the monomers, which are the basic building blocks of PET, we can recycle or even upcycle them into more valuable materials."

"Our study offers a sustainable and efficient solution to one of the world's most pressing environmental challenges: plastic waste," said Naveen Malik, the study's first author. "Unlike traditional recycling methods, which often produce harmful byproducts like waste salts and require significant energy or chemical inputs, our approach uses a solvent-free process that relies on trace moisture from ambient air. This makes it not only environmentally friendly but also highly practical for real-world applications."

An expert in plastic recycling, Kratish is a research assistant professor of chemistry at Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Kratish co-led the study with Tobin J. Marks, the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry and Chemical and Biological Engineering and (by courtesy) Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern Engineering. At the time of the research, Malik was an postdoctoral fellow in Marks' laboratory; now he is a research assistant professor at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in India.