The problem with recycling is quite straightforward: only a small percentage of the plastic items we throw away are recyclable. Some items such as plastic bottles can easily be repurposed, but others that use different assortment of plastic or have special coatings cannot. New solutions are needed for handling all this non-recyclable plastic if we want to spare the planet from further plastic pollution, which is why IBM has been working diligently over the last few years to create a process that can recycle all kinds of plastic. Now the company has one in the form of VolCat, which is short for volatile catalyst. VolCat works by using a special type of reactor that operates at temperatures above 200 degrees Celsius to quickly “digest” polyesters and separate out monomers in the form of a white power that can be used to make new plastics. That material, IBM suggest, can be fed back into plastic manufacturing so it can be reborn. IBM has already patented the process and is looking for industry partners to scale it up.
IBM has come up with a quick way to recycle all kinds of plastic
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