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Mechanistic aspects of poly(ethylene terephthalate) recycling–toward enabling high quality sustainability decisions in waste management

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Abstract

Since plastic waste pollution is a severe environmental concern in modern life, the demand for recycling poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has increased due to its versatile applications. Taking advantage of plastic recycling methods creates the chances of minimizing overall crude oil-based materials consumption, and as a result, greenhouse gasses, specifically CO2, will be decreased. Although many review articles have been published on plastic recycling methods from different aspects, a few review articles exist to investigate the organic reaction mechanism in plastic recycling. This review aims to describe other processes for recycling bottle waste of PET, considering the reaction mechanism. Understanding the reaction mechanism offers practical solutions toward protecting the environment against disadvantageous outgrowths rising from PET wastes. PET recycling aims to transform into a monomer/oligomer to produce new materials from plastic wastes. It is an application in various fields, including the food and beverage industry, packaging, and textile applications, to protect the environment from contamination and introduce a green demand for the near future. In this review, the chemical glycolysis process as an outstanding recycling technique for PET is also discussed, emphasizing the catalysts' performance, reaction conditions and methods, degradation agents, the kinetics of reactions, and reprocessing products. In general, a correct understanding of the PET recycling reaction mechanism leads to making the right decisions in waste management.

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Abbreviations

PET:

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

DMT:

Dimethyl terephthalate

TPA:

Terephthalic acid

DEG:

Diethylene glycol

EG:

Ethylene glycol

TEG:

Triethylene glycol

BHET:

bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate

BHPT:

bis(2-hydroxypropyl)terephthalate

VEBA:

Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association

PG:

Propylene glycol

UPR:

unsaturated polyester resins

Ea:

activation energy

k:

reaction constant

SNPs:

silica nanoparticles

SMPs:

silica micro-particles

CAGR:

Compound annual growth rate

UV:

ultraviolet

PUs:

Polyurethanes

TPU:

thermoplastic polyurethane

ILs:

Ionic liquids

MB:

methyl benzoate

MPD:

2-methyl-1,3-propanediol

PP:

Polypropylene

GMO:

Genetically Modified Organisms

PHA:

Polyhydroxyalkanoate

PLA:

Polylactide Acid

SSP :

Solid-State Polymerization

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to gratefully thank the Research Affairs Division of the Amir Kabir University of Technology (AUT), Tehran, Iran, for their financial support.

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Funding

This research was funded by the Research Affairs Division of the Amir Kabir University of Technology (AUT).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

EK and SR conceived of the presented idea, designed and directed the project. NN and FBA wrote the manuscript with support from EK. MHG explained the mechanical aspects of the reactions and analyzed the data. EK and SR helped supervise the project. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Elaheh Kowsari or Seeram Ramakrishna.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Ta Yeong Wu

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Ghasemi, M.H., Neekzad, N., Ajdari, F.B. et al. Mechanistic aspects of poly(ethylene terephthalate) recycling–toward enabling high quality sustainability decisions in waste management. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 43074–43101 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14925-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14925-z

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