Plastic waste pyrolysis revisited: Integrated assessment of process parameters, products, and industrial development

Plastic waste pyrolysis offers a route for converting heterogeneous post-consumer plastics into fuels and chemical feedstocks, yet industrial deployment is constrained by feedstock variability, reactor operability, product stability, and integration requirements. This review presents an integrated techno-operational assessment of plastic waste pyrolysis based on comparative synthesis of literature data across feedstock composition, reactor configuration, operating severity, product quality, and industrial implementation. Emphasis is placed on how these variables jointly constrain operating windows, product stability, upgrading demand, and scale-up feasibility across laboratory and industrial contexts. Polyolefin-rich streams provide the broadest operating window, whereas PET, PVC, additives, and inorganic fillers impose disproportionate constraints through corrosion, fouling, catalyst deactivation, and intensified upgrading demands. Reactor configuration governs heating rate, residence-time distribution, and tolerance to melting and agglomeration, thereby defining achievable process intensity. Reaction parameters (temperature, heating rate, vapor residence time, carrier-gas flow, pressure, and catalysis) are intrinsically coupled and must be co-optimized with reactor design. Industrial evidence indicates that product value is dictated by compositional stability and downstream compatibility rather than gross yield, underscoring the need to treat plastic waste pyrolysis as a unit operation within integrated waste-to-chemicals or waste-to-energy value chains.