Valorisation of Plastic Waste via Catalytic Hydrocracking: a Technological Survey

Abstract

In this work, we looked at the most recent advances in the field of plastics hydrocracking from a technology standpoint. A patent search was supplemented by a literature review to evaluate the development of the hydrocracking technology for plastics recycling. We observed that the patent and academic literature output rapidly increased over the past decade, highlighting the recent emergence of this technology to tackle the plastic waste problem. A majority of patents arise from academia, where plastics recycling is a growing research topic. Although innovations for plastics hydrocracking have been reported, most of them disclose the use of catalysts in batch reactors, whereas very few patents describe the process. Continuous operation at pilot scale will be essential to gather process data towards industrialisation and further assess the commercial viability of the plastics hydrocracking technology.