Chemical recycling could be the solution to plastic pollution

The world is drowning in plastic. About 60% of the more than 8,700 million metric tonnes of plastic ever made is no longer in use, instead sat mostly in landfill or released to the environment. That equals over 400kg of plastic waste for every one of the 7.6 billion people on the planet. One reason for this is that many plastics are not recyclable in our current system. And even those that are recyclable still go to landfill eventually. Plastics cannot be recycled infinitely, at least not using traditional techniques. Most are only given one new lease of life before they end up in the earth, the ocean or an incinerator. But there is hope in a different form of recycling known as chemical recycling. Traditional physical or mechanical recycling typically grinds down plastic into smaller parts that are then mixed and moulded together to create lower grade plastic products. Chemical recycling, on the other hand, breaks the plastic down to the molecular level, making available “platform molecules” that can then be used to make other materials. It’s early days for this idea but, in principle, it could open up a whole range of opportunities.