The recycling of polyolefin plastics is often hindered by high energy consumption and low economic efficiency. In particular, the recycling of poly(vinyl chloride) is especially challenging. Here, we present a protocol to recycle poly(vinyl chloride) into a photothermal agent for the depolymerization of polyolefins under sunlight. By dechlorinating the poly(vinyl chloride), we harness its unique ability to convert sunlight into the energy required to break C-C bonds in polyolefins. This protocol allows for the transformation of low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, and polypropylene into waxes enriched with terminal olefins. Furthermore, it can also enable the conversion of polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(α-methyl styrene), styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene into their respective monomers. This broad applicability makes our protocol suitable for recycling of a wide range of post-consumer plastics and their mixtures under ambient environment. This work provides an effective strategy for polyolefins recycling using waste plastics and solar energy.
Liu et al. (2026) studied this question.