Despite research and policy efforts, recycling initiatives have skidded on more complex materials like tires and mattresses, filling dumps and natural land across the country.
Despite research and policy efforts, recycling initiatives have skidded on more complex materials like tires and mattresses, filling dumps and natural land across the country.
Now, Northwestern University researchers have used simple chemistry to address long- standing barriers associated with recycling about a quarter of today’s plastics — materials that Northwestern’s John Torkelson say hold a tremendous amount of embedded energy.
Torkelson, a professor of chemical and biological engineering and of materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern, will present on seven novel techniques to transform tires and other similar thermoset polymers into recyclable materials at the American Physical Society (APS) on March 14. His lab’s breakthrough research builds on excitement in the sustainability field and will help mitigate fires, pollution and the lost economic value associated with synthetic polymer waste.
“This is our case of looking at a class of materials that were considered hopeless in terms of recycling,” Torkelson said. “And using one- or two-step chemistry to transform them into recyclable material with full recovery of properties to see how that can really help address some major issues with regard to sustainability.”
Read more at Northwestern University
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