Waste to Best: Chemical Recycling of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) for Generation of Useful Molecules

• Published in: Springer Proceedings in Materials
• Main Author: Radadiya R.; Shahabuddin S.; Gaur R.
• Format: Book chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Nature 2022
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85144696672&doi=10.1007%2f978-981-19-2572-6_19&partnerID=40&md5=9320d8609c93ff869539d2271cf5cb39

The consumption and production of plastics across the globe has increased at an alarming rate over the last few decades. Commodity plastics, especially PET (polyethylene terephthalate), have significant properties like versatility, durability, light, and cheap. Because of the above mentioned properties, increasing use of plastic products can be observed (e.g., packaging, paints, construction, pharmaceutical, etc.), which eventually caused the subsequent rise in plastic waste generation from last many years. Properties of strength and durability which make the PET so useful during their functional lifetimes are profound drawbacks at end-of-life because the used PET materials are overwhelmingly landfilled or leaked into the environment. The demand and utilization of PET by consumers as well as by industries have increased enormously due to its various applications and high global consumption. Therefore, a considerable requirement of cost-effective and environmentally safe recycling is necessitated to reduce the growing pressure on the environment. The present study aims to discuss different approaches for recycling of PET waste with their limitations and scope. Moreover, the review mainly focuses on different aspects of the chemical recycling of PET waste in a detailed manner and how it surpasses the other methods of PET recycling. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.