Concept of Catalytic Depolymerization of Polyolefinic Plastic Waste to High Value Chemicals

To establish a circular economy the chemical recycling of plastic waste seems to be crucial as contaminated waste streams cannot be easily recycled by mechanical processes. Some plastic components and contaminants cause severe problems in thermo‐chemical processes and the refining of the intermediates, which leads to a crucial waste pretreatment. Therefore, robust and efficient conversion methods have to be developed. A contribution to this, a new concept regarding the catalytic conversion of plastic waste, the necessary refining steps and ecological considerations, is proposed in this work. Catalytic cracking of polyolefin plastic waste improves the environmental impact of producing high‐value chemicals compared to pyrolysis, hydrotreating and steam cracking. It is essential to find suitable catalyst systems that have a high yield of the desired products and can be easily regenerated. The present investigations show the technical feasibility of such systems up to continuous laboratory scale.