Researchers are developing a new recycling method to enhance material value with new properties.
Plastic pollution is one of the world’s most pressing issues. According to the OECD, only nine percent of global plastic waste was successfully recycled in 2022. The rest is either incinerated, ends up in landfills, or pollutes the oceans. By 2040, the amount of improperly disposed plastic could increase drastically. Expanding recycling efforts faces several challenges, including economic viability and the often lower quality of recycled materials.
Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) of the U.S. Department of Energy have now developed a method to make recycled materials even more valuable by altering their properties. The key lies in modifying the polymers found in discarded plastics—chemical compounds made up of smaller molecular units. This process utilizes an existing technique called Molecular Editing, which has been recognized with two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, including one in 2020 for the invention of CRISPR technology, also known as “gene scissors.”

CRISPR, also known as “gene scissors,” is a method for editing DNA strands. The method developed at ORNL is similar to CRISPR but for the building blocks of plastic / Photo: KEITH CHAMBERS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
“Their process is like CRISPR for polymers,” explains Jeffrey Foster, the lead researcher at ORNL. Compared to traditional recycling, where plastic is usually melted down with the hope of achieving a “good result,” this method is much more targeted, allowing nearly all the material to be recovered. Additionally, it saves energy and reduces emissions.
Ruthenium: A Valuable Aid in Plastic Upcycling
The materials are first dissolved in solvents. To facilitate the subsequent formation of polymers, a ruthenium catalyst is used. These catalysts are already employed in the industry to produce robust plastics and convert biomass into fuels, indicating significant potential for chemical upcycling, according to the researchers. By altering the composition of the polymer building blocks, it is possible to determine how strong, soft, or heat-resistant the recycled plastics will be. Manufacturing materials that were previously used for a single product could ultimately find new purposes in entirely different product categories.
In developing their method, the ORNL team focused on widely used polymers that significantly contribute to global plastic waste. For example, they worked with soft polybutadiene, commonly found in rubber tires, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, which is used in various products such as plastic toys, computer keyboards, ventilation pipes, and kitchen appliances. Recycling for these waste streams has been virtually non-existent until now, says Foster. The goal is to extend the concept to a wide range of industrially important polymers, thereby increasing economic viability. A circular economy, where waste materials are reused instead of disposed of, could become much more realistic as a result.
Read More – How Metals Aid in Plastic Recycling: We have previously reported on exciting research approaches where metals could help curb the global plastic flood. For instance, rare earth elements could contribute to breaking down the particularly resilient plastic, Nylon-6. Another method explores how solar energy can be used not only to recycle plastic but also to convert the greenhouse gas CO2 into valuable material.
Photo: iStock/OperationShooting