The plastic pollution problem is only growing in scale and intensity. Fortunately, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an innovative recycling technique that relies on solar energy and waste polyvinyl chloride to break down the most common plastics: namely, polyolefins.
According to the study, published in the Nature Communications journal, plastic production exceeds 360 million tons each year, much of which goes to waste. And because of lingering dirt, plastic additives, and general procedural difficulty, less than 10% of the world's plastic trash is actually recycled.
Plastic recycling techniques can be broken down into mechanical options, which tend to be harder to scale, and chemical options, which focus on converting polyolefins into energy or other valuable materials.
This latest recycling method is of the latter sort, relying on photochemical conversion to break down polyolefin plastics while finding a promising use for PVC, which has in the past proved notoriously difficult to recycle.
According to the study, the scientists separated the chlorine from the PVC and utilized the dechlorinated PVC as a photothermal agent, converting sunlight into enough thermal energy to break down the polymer chains that make up polyolefins.
"This protocol is highly efficient in terms of both time and material usage, capable of converting most of the common conventional plastics … under ambient pressure and air conditions with sunlight exposure," the researchers wrote.
Plastic can be found in everything from everyday household objects to food and clothes, and as it degrades into smaller and smaller pieces without fully breaking down organically, microplastics and nanoplastics accumulate in soil, waterways, and pretty much everywhere else in nature.
The result, disconcertingly, is that these tiny bits of plastic wind up in human bodies and affect health — they are eaten, drunk, breathed in, and even absorbed through the skin.
Since plastic production and consumption likely won't decline anytime soon, recycling research is essential to minimizing the environmental damage caused by plastic pollution.
Doing your part and going plastic-free can make a difference. At an individual level, small eco-conscious choices add up for the better.
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