Recent Advances on Chemical Recycling Method for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

Abstract

Development of recycling methods for plastics attracted recent global attentions due to a pollution of environment by wasted plastics. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is widely utilized as various films and fibers in modern society. In fact, PET is a plastic material with relatively advanced recycling system. However, the chemical recycling method, in which the same product can be repeatedly produced, requires high energy for depolymerization, leading to an increase in the price of recycled products. This article first introduces chemical recycling methods that have been pioneered so far, and then outlines recent approaches to reduce the energy consumption of depolymerization processes. Furthermore, our recent study concerning the ambient temperature catalytic depolymerization of PET using dimethyl carbonate as an accelerator is highlighted.