Upcycling of post-industrial multilayer plastic packaging waste through gasoline-equivalent hydrocarbon-targeted pyrolysis by an environmentally friendly catalyst

[Display omitted] •First study to recover gasoline-like hydrocarbons from EVOH-containing multilayer plastic packaging waste (MLPW).•Calcined cement kiln dust (CCKD) explored as a low-cost catalyst for pyrolysis.•Py–GC/MS setup used to study flash pyrolysis of MLPW catalyzed by CCKD.•CCKD catalyst promoted deoxygenation, cracking, cyclization, and aromatization.•CCKD shows potential for converting MLPW into gasoline-equivalent hydrocarbons. This study’s novelty lies in investigating the performance of calcined cement kiln dust (CCKD) as a new, low-cost catalyst in the flash pyrolysis of EVOH-containing multilayer plastic packaging waste (MLPW). An analytical pyrolyzer, connected with gas chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry detection (Py–GC/MS), was employed to investigate the catalytic pyrolysis of MLPW. Py-GC/MS experiments have shown that condensable volatiles from catalytic pyrolysis of MLPW exhibit higher yields of aromatics (24.7 %) and cyclic aliphatic compounds (26.3 %). The catalytic pyrolysis of MLPW yields C5–C12 hydrocarbons (76.2 %), while the non-catalytic conversion yields C8–C24 hydrocarbons (95.4 %). These results underscore the efficacy of catalytic pyrolysis in recovering gasoline-range hydrocarbons from MLPW, selectively enhancing the yield of cyclic aliphatics and aromatic compounds. Thus, within the circular economy’s horizon, flash pyrolysis can be scaled up to process large amounts of MLPW using CCKD as a low-cost catalyst, converting MLPW into a potential gasoline-range transportation fuel.