Development of a feedstock recycling process for converting waste plastics to petrochemicals

The catalytic degradation of polyolefin using H-Gallosilicates was examined using a bench scale reactor (0.8 kg/h) with semi-continuous feeding of the following plastics : low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets, linear low-density polyethylene (L-LDPE) pellets, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pellets, polypropylene (PP) pellets, and polyolefin obtained from pulverized industrial waste plastics. Yields of benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) from the above materials ranged from 30 to 60 wt% in nearly all cases. Yields of BTX were not be changed by the type of plastics. This process in which BTX can be produced stably from various waste polyolefins would be useful for feedstock recycling of waste plastics to petrochemicals.