Plastic waste management: A road map to achieve circular economy and recent innovations in pyrolysis

Abstract

The contemporary world is challenged by mounting of plastic waste on the environment due to increase in economy and population. Over 90% of virgin plastics are produced from fossil fuels, hence, recycling is the best solution to reduce extracting and exploiting fossil fuels, and grow towards a circular economy. The type of waste and its hierarchy offers a route to pick up proper waste recycling policies which get the most out of the available resources and its protection. Pyrolysis process offers more valuable ways to turn the plastic waste to useful products for fueling and raw materials for making new plastics, and acts as an environmentally sound alternative to incineration and inefficient landfilling. This study provides a basic insight into plastic pyrolysis technology with recent trends and innovations in various countries, and their path towards the achievement of a circular economy. Plastic manufacturers, waste managers and the public plays a vital role in the development of the recycling sector. Recycling will stay underdeveloped and borderline without specific regulations to increase its effectiveness. Sustainable development in managing the plastic would be possible only through significant policies to instruct the individual and social challenges. The current article also targets the readers without scientific knowledge to get a basic idea of pyrolysis and general awareness of proper plastic waste management in a closed loop system.

Keywords: COVID-19; Circular economy; Plastic waste; Pyrolysis; Recycling.