Polyester plastics, commonly found in synthetic textiles and plastic components of home appliances, are notoriously difficult to recycle. In a study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from France unveiled a clever method for breaking down polyester waste into reusable building blocks using heat and leveraging the residual catalysts embedded within the plastic during the manufacturing process, eliminating the need for tedious sorting.

Sorting plastic waste is recommended before disposal in order to make the recycling process easier. Recycling of PET or polyethylene terephthalate, which is widely used in bottles, textiles, packaging, and engineering plastics, significantly benefits from this practice. Recyclers simply need to collect, separate it from other waste, and break it down via enzyme-catalyzed depolymerization into monomers, which can then be used for the next batch of PET products.

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