Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jul;43(13):e2200247.
doi: 10.1002/marc.202200247. Epub 2022 Jun 9.

Closing the Carbon Loop in the Circular Plastics Economy

Carl G Schirmeister  1 , Rolf Mülhaupt  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Closing the Carbon Loop in the Circular Plastics Economy

Carl G Schirmeister et al. Macromol Rapid Commun. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Today, plastics are ubiquitous in everyday life, problem solvers of modern technologies, and crucial for sustainable development. Yet the surge in global demand for plastics of the growing world population has triggered a tidal wave of plastic debris in the environment. Moving from a linear to a zero-waste and carbon-neutral circular plastic economy is vital for the future of the planet. Taming the plastic waste flood requires closing the carbon loop through plastic reuse, mechanical and molecular recycling, carbon capture, and use of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. In the quest for eco-friendly products, plastics do not need to be reinvented but tuned for reuse and recycling. Their full potential must be exploited regarding energy, resource, and eco-efficiency, waste prevention, circular economy, climate change mitigation, and lowering environmental pollution. Biodegradation holds promise for composting and bio-feedstock recovery, but it is neither the Holy Grail of circular plastics economy nor a panacea for plastic littering. As an alternative to mechanical downcycling, molecular recycling enables both closed-loop recovery of virgin plastics and open-loop valorization, producing hydrogen, fuels, refinery feeds, lubricants, chemicals, and carbonaceous materials. Closing the carbon loop does not create a Perpetuum Mobile and requires renewable energy to achieve sustainability.

Keywords: circular economy; plastics; polymers; recycling; sustainability.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. A. L. Andrady, M. A. Neal, Philos. Trans. R. Soc., B 2009, 364, 1977.
    1. R. C. Thompson, S. H. Swan, C. J. Moore, F. S. vom Saal, Philos. Trans. R. Soc., B 2009, 364, 1973.
    1. J. Zalasiewicz, C. N. Waters, J. A. I. do Sul, P. L. Corcoran, A. D. Barnosky, A. Cearreta, M. Edgeworth, A. Galuszka, C. Jeandel, R. Leinfelder, J. R. McNeill, W. Steffen, C. Summerhayes, M. Wagreich, M. Williams, A. P. Wolfe, Y. Yonan, Anthropocene 2016, 13, 4.
    1. Y. Furukawa, Dissertation, Staudinger, Carothers, and the Emergence of Macromolecular Chemistry, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City 1983.
    1. R. Mulhaupt, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 1054.

LinkOut - more resources