Argonne, UChicago Research Aims to Shrink Landfills by Turning ‘Waste into Wealth’

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Argonne and UChicago scientists are developing methods to recover and reuse precious metals and other valuable materials from batteries and devices at their end of life. They’re also developing technologies to turn waste into valuable commodities. And by collaborating with industry partners, other research institutions and local communities, they’re helping to bridge the gap between laboratory discovery and large-scale societal impact.

The emissions humans produce and the plastics, devices, food and other waste we discard do not always get folded back into Earth’s natural cycles. Instead, much of our waste is either left sitting in rapidly growing landfills, polluting the environment or both. Meanwhile, our emissions are accumulating in the atmosphere, driving rising global temperatures and damaging ecosystems. And despite our efforts so far, less than 10% of the approximately 7 billion tons of plastic waste ever generated has been recycled.

“Plastic contains a lot of energy. It’s like pre-purified crude oil, and it’s already out of the ground,” said Max Delferro, a chemist with Argonne and the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, and Argonne’s Circular Economy lead. ​“In the future, as technologies improve, there could be a financial incentive to digging for plastic in landfills.” Delferro and his team at Argonne are pioneering new and improved methods for recycling plastic waste. For example, they are using chemical tools called catalysts to convert plastic bags and films into higher-value products, such as lubricants and waxes. They’re also reimagining how plastic products are designed to begin with. For example, as part of the Department of Energy’s Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP), Delferro and other scientists from Argonne and Cornell University developed a new method for recycling high-density polyethylene, or Type 2 plastic. Their technique transforms postconsumer products into a new type of plastic material that can be recycled repeatedly without loss of quality.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com