Waste plastics are directly decomposed into monomers, no need to convert pyrolysis oil!

Japan's Mitsui Chemicals and Microwave Chemicals have launched a program to commercialize microwave technology in the chemical recycling of waste plastics
.
According to reports, the project mainly produces raw material monomers from plastics that are traditionally difficult to recycle.
These waste plastics include car shredder residues (ASR, mainly a mixture of polypropylene-based plastics) and thermosetting flakes for bathtubs and cars.
Molding Compound (SMC)
.

In fact, Mitsui Chemicals and Microwave Chemical have entered into a strategic partnership since 2017 to jointly advance the joint development of next-generation chemical process technologies, and the two parties have established a strong relationship, including through partial equity investment
.
The two companies are jointly considering the use of microwave technology for various chemical processes
.

This new initiative is an attempt to commercialize a chemical recycling technology that uses microwave chemistry to break down ASR and SMC products directly into virgin monomers based on PlaWave microwave plastic degradation technology
.

Traditional chemical recycling methods usually require the conversion of waste plastics into pyrolysis oil.
Now this recycling method can directly convert waste plastics into monomers, eliminating intermediate steps and being more efficient
.
The technology also promises to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using electricity generated from renewable sources to power the decomposition process
.

Preliminary deliberations have now yielded positive results and the project will be validated using Microwave Chemical's laboratory-scale equipment by the end of fiscal year 2021, with scale-up being considered for rapid demonstration testing
.