ArticleNature communications2026
Sustainable recycling of polyester wastes using a coordinatively unsaturated Zn catalyst.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Closed-loop recycling of polyester waste offers a promising route for addressing the environmental burden of plastic pollution and enabling resource circularity. However, current polyester plastic recycling methods face limitations in industrial scalability and environmental impact. Here, we report the development of a low-cost, earth-abundant, coordinatively unsaturated defect-zinc oxide (d-ZnO) catalyst for the efficient depolymerization of various polyester wastes, including polyethylene terephthalate, biodegradable polyesters, post-consumer polyesters, and mixed polyester waste. Mechanistic investigations reveal that defects structure in the catalyst enhance the activation of oxygen and water molecules, generating nucleophilic species that drive ester bond cleavage via carbonyl activation. The robustness and scalability of our strategy were further validated through large-scale closed-loop recycling of polyester waste plastics. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) demonstrate the environmental sustainability and economic viability of this process across multiple metrics, including human health, ecosystem quality, resource consumption, and production cost. This work offers a broadly applicable, sustainable, and practical solution for management polyester plastic waste.
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