Upcycling of persistent pollutants: Toward an electrochemically driven circular halogen economy

Halogenated products find broad application in chemical products and feature high persistence in natural ecosystems. Whereas their slow natural degradation enables their use in applications such as crop protection, this property makes them persistent pollutants that do not reenter the value chain of chemical products. New electrochemical modifications could enable the circular use of halogenated chemicals. Huge deposits of pollutants could serve as feedstock for future applications and processes. We envision that an electrically driven circular economy powered by renewable energy and operating under CO$_2$-neutral conditions could liberate carbon skeletons as non-fossil feedstocks.