Polymers derived from biorenewable resources, commonly referred as “renewable polymers” or “sustainable polymers” in literature, are not necessarily sustainable or degradable, while degradable polymers are not necessarily recyclable. Polymeric materials in the past were typically designed for performance and price, not for degradability and recyclability. The current practices of recycling of such materials, especially plastics, are largely ineffective, with only ~5% of material value is recovered for subsequent use. The dire consequences are twofold: about 95% of plastic materials value or $80–120 billion annually is lost to the economy after a single use, and ~56 million tons of plastic trash are disposed into the Earth’s landfills and oceans each year. The development of biodegradable polymers is part of the solution, but no chemicals are typically recovered and degraded materials could create new or unintended environmental consequences. We argued that the ultimate solution for solving this global environmental and economic issue is the development of recyclable polymers that can be completely depolymerized, after their useful life, back to their building block chemicals for virgin quality polymer reproduction or creative reuses as new materials. To this end, this talk will present our recent efforts in developing such sustainable polymers<i> </i>that are not only biorenewable and degradable but also recyclable, en route to the end goal of eliminating the plastic trash and achieving a circular economy.

Sustainable polymers with complete recyclability for a circular economy

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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