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Abstract Chlorinated plastics are part of the everyday lives of consumers and producers alike. They can be found in buildings, automobiles, fashion, packaging, and many other places. This prevalence makes them a considerable part of the plastic waste crisis. Interest in “upcycling” (as opposed to recycling) has grown recently to augment the possibilities of managing plastic waste. The advances made in plastic upcycling have focused on polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS) while chlorinated plastics, chiefly polyvinyl chloride (PVC), have received much less attention. The release of chlorine‐containing molecules during treatment of chlorinated plastic greatly complicates cross‐method upcycling, or even the treatment of plastic mixes containing chlorinated plastics. This review presents a case for extracting value from chlorinated plastics by highlighting appealing upcycling products made owing to, or despite, the C‐Cl bond via depolymerization, carbonization and modification. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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This content will become publicly available on June 1, 2026
Membranes from upcycled waste plastics: current status, challenges, and future outlook
Plastic is ubiquitous across all aspects of modern life. Despite its usefulness, only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled, leaving a tremendous amount that ends up in landfills and the environment. New strategies need to investigate using this waste plastic. This report analyzes upcycling waste plastics into membranes for water and gas separations. Polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, poly(vinyl chloride), polyethylene, polypropylene, and tire rubber have been studied for use as membranes. Future work needs to investigate greener solvents, health and safety aspects, costs, supply and demand, and life cycle assessments for upcycling plastic waste into membranes.
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- PAR ID:
- 10574089
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering
- Volume:
- 48
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 2211-3398
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 101106
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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