English
Recently, there have been frequent good news in the field of plastic recycling. From scientific breakthroughs to corporate practices, and then to positive actions at the social level, multidimensional progress has brought new hope for solving the problem of plastic pollution and injected new impetus into environmental protection and economic development.
At the forefront of scientific research, scholars from China, Germany, and the United States have worked together to achieve a remarkable achievement. The research team led by Zhang Wei from the Full Weight Laboratory of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at East China Normal University, in collaboration with Johannes A. Lercher from the Technical University of Munich in Germany and Professor Mal Soon Lee from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the United States, has successfully developed the world's first room temperature catalytic conversion technology. The relevant research results were published in the latest issue of the internationally renowned journal Science.
Since the industrialization of plastic production in the 1950s, it has been widely used in various fields such as packaging, building materials, electronics, healthcare, and aerospace due to its lightweight, durability, and cost advantages. With the continuous growth of global demand, plastic production is rapidly increasing, with a cumulative output exceeding 10 billion tons. However, about 80% of it ultimately becomes garbage, causing serious resource waste and challenging environmental issues. As the world's largest producer and consumer of plastics, China faces a severe situation in the management of plastic waste. At present, the domestic stock of waste plastics has exceeded 1 billion tons, with an annual increase of over 60 million tons, of which polyolefin (PE, PP) accounts for 50% and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) accounts for 10%. These two types of plastics account for 60%, and have great potential for recycling and reuse. However, at present, the main methods of plastic disposal are still landfill and incineration, which have significant drawbacks. Landfilling not only occupies a large amount of land, but may also lead to microplastic pollution of soil and water bodies; Burning has high energy consumption, low added value, and large carbon emissions, especially for PVC. During the incineration process, toxic substances such as dioxins are easily generated, posing a serious threat to the ecological environment and human health.
The room temperature catalytic conversion technology developed this time has achieved for the first time the efficient conversion of difficult to degrade mixed plastic waste such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyolefins (PE, PP) into high value-added fuel in one step under normal temperature and pressure conditions, with a conversion efficiency of over 95%. This technology has achieved three major innovations: firstly, it has innovated the reaction conditions, enabling conversion to be completed at room temperature and reducing energy consumption by over 70%; Secondly, process integration innovation has been carried out, integrating the three-step reactions of dechlorination, cracking, and alkylation into a single process; Thirdly, the collaborative utilization of resources has been achieved by creatively using petrochemical by-products as reaction media, achieving the goal of "treating waste with waste" and achieving efficient value-added utilization of waste plastic resources. Experimental data shows that this technology can convert mixed waste plastics into high-grade gasoline in one step, with a carbon atom utilization rate of over 95%. This' molecular refining 'technology effectively enhances the economic efficiency of plastic recycling, builds a complete resource recycling chain, and provides a practical and feasible solution for global plastic pollution control. In terms of technical design, the ionic liquid catalyst selected by the team is inexpensive, highly active, has low corrosiveness, and is safe and reliable to operate. It has been validated in the industrial alkylation unit of the enterprise. Compared with traditional high-temperature cracking, the new technology operates at room temperature, is safe and environmentally friendly, has no toxic by-products, can effectively block chlorine pollution, and the converted hydrogen chloride can dissolve in water to form non-toxic hydrochloric acid (the main component of human stomach acid), balancing resource utilization and environmental safety. In the future, Zhang Wei's team will leverage the advantages of scientific research platforms to promote the industrialization of green catalytic technology, and through cooperation with petrochemical enterprises for pilot scale testing, achieve commercial applications. At the same time, we plan to use artificial intelligence to develop more efficient catalytic systems, delve into the atomic level mechanisms of plastic conversion, and promote the global promotion of technology through East China Normal University and international cooperation platforms.
In terms of corporate practice, Aifei Waste Material Recycling Co., Ltd. located in Xin Village, Gaolong Town, Yanshi District, Luoyang City has achieved remarkable results. Liu Yang, the person in charge of the enterprise, has been dedicated to the recycling and processing of waste plastic bottles for fifteen years. He has developed the initial waste collection station into a leading player in the recycled plastic industry, processing 150 tons today, employing over 150 people, and paying an annual profit and tax of 15 million yuan. In today's processing workshop, two automated production lines operate efficiently. Plastic bottles are dispersed by an open machine, accurately sorted by intelligent color separation equipment, and then crushed, cleaned, dried, and finally selected and packaged by infrared recognition. Compared to the past, the proportion of manual labor in the processing process has decreased from 90% to less than 10%, and a "black light factory" mode with unmanned operation at night has been achieved. In order to improve the source recovery rate, Liu Yang invested more than 6 million yuan last year to establish green intelligent sorting centers in three counties and districts in Luoyang. At the same time, he invested more than 10 million yuan to upgrade the company's production line to intelligent and digital transformation, achieving resource appreciation and industrial extension. Based on the current recycling and processing capacity of 150 tons per day, more than 190000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced annually. In addition, Liu Yang also formed a network team to develop a "recycled polyester consulting platform" and established Luoyang Derui Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. to engage in the manufacturing of plastic and other recycled resource processing equipment, helping similar industries in China solve production problems. At present, Aifei Recycling Company has passed the "Global Recycling Standard Certification" (GRS certification), been selected as a "National Recycled Plastic Standard Enterprise" and a "Demonstration Disabled Employment Base in Luoyang City", won the second prize in the "Yuchuang Tianxia" Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition in Henan Province, and was commended as a "Taxpaying Contribution Enterprise" by Yanshi District.
At the societal level, Meituan's Green Mountain Plan continues to make efforts in the field of plastic recycling. On August 15th, the third National Ecological Day, Meituan Qingshan Plan announced its eighth anniversary progress. As of the end of July 2025, over 2.6 million merchants have "Merchant Qingshan Files", and over 520 million Meituan food delivery users have used the "no tableware" function, generating over 10 billion related orders. Meituan Qingshan plans to implement large-scale garbage classification and meal box recycling projects in 24 cities across 20 provinces in China, with a cumulative recycling of over 37000 tons of plastic meal boxes. To solve the problem of food delivery box recycling, Meituan has launched the "Box Fusion" plastic box large-scale recycling action, using big data to support partners in optimizing site selection, jointly carrying out classification promotion, supporting the construction of food box collection and transportation infrastructure, and the high-value utilization of recycled plastics. This has established a large-scale, standardized, and high-value food box recycling and reuse chain. At the same time, Meituan, together with industry organizations, 27 beverage brands, and industry chain partners, has launched the "Good Cup New Life" environmental protection action, which drives consumers to increase the recycling rate of disposable beverage cups through online guidance, offline experience, and rewards after participation. In addition, Meituan has established a "Merchant Green Mountain Profile" to provide traffic support and other rewards to businesses with excellent environmental performance, encouraging more businesses to participate in environmental protection actions. Moreover, Meituan Qingshan plans to collaborate with multiple brands to produce over 10 types of products, including sportswear, stationery, bicycle mudguards, packaging boxes, and more, from recycled meal box particles. This has increased public awareness and perception of meal box recycling. In the future, Meituan Qingshan Plan has formulated the "2030 Goals", which will promote the application of green packaging, improve the level of plastic recycling and reuse, and build a "everyone participates" green consumption ecology, working together with businesses and consumers to build a "better life, more beautiful nature".
From the dedicated research of scientific researchers to the active practice of enterprises, and then to platform enterprises driving the participation of various social forces, plastic recycling is gradually forming a comprehensive development trend. These advances not only help alleviate the pressure of plastic pollution on the environment and achieve efficient utilization of resources, but also open up new paths and opportunities for economic development. I believe that with the joint efforts of all parties, new breakthroughs will continue to be made in the field of plastic recycling, making greater contributions to global environmental protection and sustainable development.
