Plastic Upcycling via Artificial Photosynthesis: A Green Conversion From Waste to Value‐Added Chemicals

The increasingly severe challenge of global plastic pollution has spurred significant interest inphotocatalytic upcycling, a sustainable strategy which utilizes solar energy to convert plastic waste into valuable chemicals. This article systematically examines the detailed reaction mechanisms of photocatalytic plastic upcycling and elucidates the critical role of pretreatment in overcoming the intrinsic chemical inertness of polymers. Furthermore, it highlights recent advances in upcycling major plastic categories, including polyesters, polyolefins, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride, with a dedicated discussion on the design principles of high‐performance photocatalysts and their underlying reaction pathways. The discussion also extends to the systematic evaluation of strategies for upgrading mixed plastics, aiming to establish a theoretical foundation for enhancing conversion efficiency and scalability. Finally, the emerging bottlenecks to industrialization are identified, and prospects for future development are proposed.