Valorization of Plastic Waste to Chemicals

Plastics have become an inevitable part of everyday life of humans because they have promising properties and are versatile and durable in nature. Consequently, there is a large amount of plastic waste generation and proper disposal and management is a big concern nowadays. Due to improper waste management of plastics, environment has suffered a lot. The harmful effect of plastic wastes causes severe damage on the ecosystem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop techniques that would recycle plastic waste. In the current review, various innovative technologies have been discussed for the valorization of plastic waste. Various techniques such as pyrolysis and gasification to produce chemical products like synthetic fuel, chemicals, and carbon nanotubes have been discussed. Various factors affecting the production processes have also been critically reviewed. Major challenges in the process and the possible economic solutions have been discussed as well.