China can turn plastic waste to jet fuel at a low cost: study

The world produces 460 million tonnes of plastic a year, creating a devastating environmental problem. China may have an answer Global plastic production exceeds 460 million tonnes annually, and the material’s resistance to degradation is fuelling growing concern about its environmental impact. The research, conducted by a joint team from the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University, centres on the hydrogenolysis of polyolefins. The reaction operates under relatively mild conditions and offers tunable product selectivity, allowing researchers to steer the conversion towards desired hydrocarbon ranges. Polyolefins – primarily polythene and polypropylene – account for over 60 per cent of plastic waste, yet they are notoriously inert and difficult to break down. At the heart of this chemistry lie metal catalysts, which provide the active sites for selectively cleaving and rearranging carbon‑carbon bonds. However, a fundamental challenge has long plagued this route.

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