Transforming plastic waste into sustainable fuels and cosmetics

Person wearing gloves placing a plastic bottle into a black garbage bag

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a way to transform plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels using solar power. Currently, plastic waste is recycled using chemicals that require extremely high temperatures resulting in high costs and inefficiencies. With this new technology, chemical recycling can be achieved using a solar-powered reactor. The reactor converts carbon dioxide into products such as syngas, a major component of sustainable liquid fuels, and plastics into glycolic acid, widely used in the cosmetics industry. Read more.

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