| Details: |
India produces approximately 20 million tons of plastic every year, yet only a meager 15-20%
of this plastic is recycled, presenting a significant challenge to plastic waste management. The
remaining waste predominantly ends up into landfills or leaks into water bodies, causing severe
environmental pollution. Thus, the current linear model of plastic utilization, that is, take, make,
use, and throw is not sustainable. To address this critical issue, we have undertaken in-depth
investigation about plastic depolymerization and upcycling. A brief overview of segregation,
plastic to fuel and downstream processing will be presented.
The second part of the talk will deal with depolymerization of waste plastic to value added long-
chain alkenes. The PCP-iridium complex Cat.1 (Fig. 1) catalyzes the dehydrogenation of
commercial, as well as, post-consumer polyethylene waste to produce dehydrogenated
polyethylene (DHP). The DHP was subjected to an ethylene cross-metathesis reaction in the
presence of suitable catalysts. Through meticulous optimization of reaction parameters, 63%
selectivity toward dodecene was achieved. The practical significance of our method has been
demonstrated by subjecting the plastic waste to dehydrogenation followed by ethylene
metathesis to produce dodecene as a major product, together with long-chain alkenes. |