Orange peel ash coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a magnetically retrievable catalyst for glycolysis and methanolysis of PET waste

[Display omitted] •Synthesis of orange peel ash coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles.•Characterization of the catalysts using various techniques.•Glycolysis and methanolysis of PET waste using the prepared nanoparticles.•Recycling and reused of the catalyst up to ten catalytic cycles.•Excellent yield and high purity of the desired products. Chemical recycling of PET offers the process of recovering virgin grade raw materials that can be reprocessed to produce an intact polymeric material or other valuable products. In the current study, we investigate the advantages of exercising biowaste derived orange peel ash (OPA) magnetic nano-catalyst, OPA@Fe3O4 as a green and reusable heterogeneous solid catalyst for glycolytic and methanolytic degradation of PET waste. The composition and physical features of the prepared catalyst were studied and analyzed using various techniques. Under the optimized condition, the catalyst was able to obtain an excellent bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) yield with 100% PET conversion. Moreover, the catalyst was able to be recycled for ten consecutive runs for both processes without a significant reduction in the yield of the reaction, addressing the possible implementation of the catalyst for industrial purposes.