Emerging Technologies for Waste Plastic Treatment

The existence of waste plastics and microplastics has caused serious pollution to the ecological environment. Harsh reaction conditions or long reaction time are typically required for the current waste plastic treatment technologies, resulting in high energy consumption and capital cost. Recently, plasma, Fenton, and electrochemical technologies have emerged to upcycle waste plastics under mild conditions and remove microplastics efficiently. The fundamentals and applications of plasma, Fenton, and electrochemical technologies in waste plastic treatment are reviewed. The prospects of these emerging technologies are also discussed, aiming to provide the scientific background, application status, and technical challenges for these emerging technologies for waste plastic treatment.