Development of a Green Process for the Recycling and Upcycling of Post-consumer Non-Compostable Polyester (PET) Material

The University of New Brunswick (UNB – Canada) welcomes a student intern from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT – Thailand) to investigate chemical technologies for recycling waste plastics. The recycling of post-consumer non-compostable materials (e.g., polyester) have been identified as the next frontier to decrease solid waste. Around the world, societies struggle with the disposal of polyester – otherwise known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – materials used in textiles and single-use bottles (e.g., water/soda pop bottles). Using a hydrolytic chemical process, polyester can be recycled back into its initial monomer building blocks, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, and then reassembled into pure polyester. However, these hydrolytic processes are often problematic because of costs associated with heavy use of mineral acids and bases (e.g., sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide) and extreme reaction conditions (>250°C, >2 MPa). This project aims to develop and evaluate innovative catalysts and strategies for the hydrolysis of polyester. The results from this project will reveal significant improvements that can be made in the PET hydrolysis process to increase the economic rationale of recycling. As a collaborative project, this project aims to strengthen the existing relationship between the two Universities.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kyle Rogers;Laura Romero-Zeron

Student:

Partner:

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Clean Technology; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program: