{"id":453655,"date":"2025-12-17T17:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/453655\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:07:12","slug":"scientists-make-breakthrough-that-could-revolutionize-what-happens-to-common-waste-promising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/453655\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists make breakthrough that could revolutionize what happens to common waste: ‘Promising’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recycling is often promoted as a fix for the world’s plastic problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development<\/a>, 91% of plastic does not get recycled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, plastics are often burned for energy, downcycled into weaker materials, or sent to landfills, according to one study published in the journal Sustainable Production and Consumption<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To combat that statistic, researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a promising process<\/a> that uses a common, low-cost iron catalyst and alcohol to break down plastic bottles and textile waste almost entirely into their original chemical building blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Britannica<\/a>, polyethylene terephthalate (commonly known as PET) is a clear, strong, lightweight resin of the polyester family, and it is widely used in beverage bottles, food containers, and textile fibers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> reported that PET bottles and jars were recycled at a rate of almost 30% in 2018, and, overall, PET is the most widely recycled plastic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The researchers’ approach depolymerizes PET, which means it cuts the “ester” bonds that hold the polyester together, according to Eureka.org.<\/a> This turns the waste back into chemical ingredients that can be used to create new plastics.<\/p>\n

While this is a large discovery that could lead to better waste management, critics say that chemical recycling<\/a> is often used to justify more plastic production rather than truly reduce plastic at the source.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, told DeSmog<\/a> that, in practice, “very little new plastic is actually created,” during advanced recycling.<\/p>\n

This new iron-catalyst technology uses abundant iron, no harsh acids or bases, and delivers almost complete conversion under moderate conditions. As the study’s researchers noted, “The result clearly demonstrates a promising applicability of this catalysis.”<\/p>\n

TCD Picks \u00bb Upway Spotlight<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands<\/p>\n

This method could make chemical recycling cheaper by using a lower-cost catalyst and avoiding harsh chemicals and high energy demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, lower-cost recycling<\/a> could encourage communities and companies to choose more affordable recycled materials and reduce waste.<\/p>\n

At scale, this recycling process could make recycling easier for consumers and cheaper for manufacturers, and it could reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills, waterways<\/a>, and food<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Innovations like this one may support a greener future, but the most reliable way to protect human health and keep plastic out of our environment is to make and use less of it<\/a> in the first place.<\/p>\n

Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Cool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recycling is often promoted as a fix for the world’s plastic problem.\u00a0 However, according to the Organisation for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":453656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[82446,746,990,82447,2824,3341,159,20747,67,132,68,20748,114486,20749],"class_list":{"0":"post-453655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-change-the-way-you-get-rid-of-your-old-stuff","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-know-your-recycling-options","12":"tag-outdoors","13":"tag-plastic","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-tech-showcase","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-waste-less","20":"tag-waste-conservation-showcase","21":"tag-yahoo-tech"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115736009219785764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}