Chemical recycling of plastic waste for sustainable development

The production and consumption of plastics have soared to an alarming situation globally. Plastic waste management through landfilling and incineration cause many environmental issues and land squandering. For marine plastic pollution, marine animals (seabirds, whales, fish, turtles) may mistake plastic waste for prey. Thus, they then die due to the starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic. The traditional plastic waste treatments focus on the high-energy input, but are not ecofriendly. The emergence of nanocatalyzed chemical upcycling of plastic waste approaches, aiming to convert wastes to value-added chemicals. The ecological, economic, and societal issues demand immediate action for the constructive pathway of waste management. Therefore, a large amount of plastic waste is out there for recycling. Mechanical recycling is mainly used as recycling technology for plastic waste, which is limited due to degradation and pretreatment processes. On the other hand, from the stance of sustainability, chemical recycling is an alternative to overcome issues related to mechanical recycling. This recycling technology allows plastics to be reproduced from their waste with similar properties to pristine materials. Several precious chemicals can be produced through this technique with a variety of applications as raw materials, fuels, and a replacement of petrochemical feedstocks. This chapter mainly focuses on chemical recycling technologies for varied kind of plastic waste.