A review on catalytic pyrolysis of plastic wastes to high-value products

Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

Jambeck, J. R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T. R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R., & Law, K. L. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1260352 · Cited by 13,163

Mechanical and chemical recycling of solid plastic waste

Ragaert, K., Delva, L., & Van Geem, K. (2017) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2017.07.044 · Cited by 3,276

Chemical recycling of waste plastics for new materials production

Rahimi, A., & Garcı́a, J. M. (2017) · Nature Reviews Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41570-017-0046 · Cited by 2,148

A review on pyrolysis of plastic wastes

Anuar Sharuddin, S. D., Abnisa, F., Wan Daud, W. M. A., & Aroua, M. K. (2016) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2016.02.037 · Cited by 2,126

Beyond Mechanical Recycling: Giving New Life to Plastic Waste

Vollmer, I., Jenks, M. J. F., Roelands, M. C. P., White, R. J., van Harmelen, T., de Wild, P., van der Laan, G. P., Meirer, F., Keurentjes, J. T. F., & Weckhuysen, B. M. (2020) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201915651 · Cited by 1,905

Investigation into the shape selectivity of zeolite catalysts for biomass conversion

Jae, J., Tompsett, G. A., Foster, A. J., Hammond, K. D., Auerbach, S. M., Lobo, R. F., & Huber, G. W. (2011) · Journal of Catalysis · doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2011.01.019 · Cited by 1,154

Thermal degradation of PVC: A review

Yu, J., Sun, L., Ma, C., Qiao, Y., & Yao, H. (2015) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.11.041 · Cited by 1,074

A review on thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of plastic solid waste (PSW).

Al-Salem, S., Antelava, A., Constantinou, A., Manos, G., & Dutta, A. (2017) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.03.084 · Cited by 1,069

Impact of Zeolites on the Petroleum and Petrochemical Industry

Vermeiren, W., & Gilson, J. (2009) · Topics in Catalysis · doi:10.1007/s11244-009-9271-8 · Cited by 991

Thermolysis of waste plastics to liquid fuelA suitable method for plastic waste management and manufacture of value added products—A world prospective

Panda, A. K., Singh, R. K., & Mishra, D. K. (2009) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.07.005 · Cited by 957

Optimisation of polyethylene catalytic pyrolysis in the presence of zeolites

Ponton, P. B. A. (2023) · doi:10.70675/a3d7def2zedf6z4f73z8732z1f9006ff4692

Enhancing crystallization and mechanical properties of PET polyester using functionalized carbon nanotubes

Zhang, P., Wang, Y., Zhang, M., Huang, L., Li, K., Li, F., Wang, W., & Tang, J. (2026) · Nanoscale · doi:10.1039/d5nr05456g

Machine learning assisted directed conversion of waste plastics into high-performance single-atom catalysts: Progress, challenges and future opportunities

Xue, J., Li, Y., Ren, Y., Wei, L., & Ling, N. (2026) · Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis · doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2026.107804

Effective control and mechanism of arsenic in the co-pyrolysis of four typical solid wastes with CaO modified vermiculite: experimental & simulation study from bench-scale to pilot-scale experiments

Yang, Y., Zhong, Z., Lu, S., Yan, J., Wang, G., Li, J., Qi, R., Ye, Q., Jia, Y., Xiong, Q., et al. (2026) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2026.139609

Catalytic Pyrolysis of Polypropylene Using Nickel Supported Sago Waste Activated Carbon for Liquid Fuel

Putri, S., Nurmalasari, N., Ramadani, S., & Safitri, D. (2026) · Nucleus Journal · doi:10.32492/nucleus.v5i1.5102

Recycling of Polymer Nanocomposites in Renewable Energy Systems

Panda, J., Mazumder, K., Biswas, S., Alom, S. M., Parvin, S., Sarkar, S., Pamanji, D., Das, B., & Datta, D. (2026) · Clean Energy Production Technologies · doi:10.1007/978-981-92-0092-4_9

Catalytic Process Regulation of Low-Impurity PET Polyester and Its Application in Medical Sutures

Hu, C., Tang, H., He, J., Zeng, C., Zhang, S., Ji, P., Wang, C., & Wang, H. (2026) · ACS Applied Polymer Materials · doi:10.1021/acsapm.6c01215

Catalytic Pyrolysis of Plastics in a Staged Free-Fall Reactor

Strien, J. R. J., Bianchetti, S. M., Fadhli, Heeres, H. J., & Deuss, P. J. (2026) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5c06525

Valorization of Waste Plastics in a Continuous Molten Salt-Assisted Pyrolysis System

Wu, Y., Yang, Y., Shi, D., Yu, J., Zhang, Y., Dai, L., Tabatabaei, M., Aghbashlo, M., Guo, Y., & Pan, R. (2026) · Waste and Biomass Valorization · doi:10.1007/s12649-026-03639-3

Carbon nanotubes from waste

Njjar, M., & Akdoğan, A. (2026) · Green Revolution · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-27678-1.00009-4

Techno-Economic analysis and carbon emission assessment of Co-Processing pyrolysis oil from waste polyethylene with vacuum gas oil in a hydrocracking unit for fuel production

Han, Z., Jiang, N., Tan, H., Lin, H., & Wu, L. (2026) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2026.121852

Design and analysis of a new Ru-Cu/ZSM-5 bimetallic catalyst for hydrogenolysis of polyolefin waste

Liu, C. S., Yu, Z., Ma, Y., Xue, Z., Xu, S., Jia, L., Wang, Z., & Xu, F. (2026) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2026.139749

Structure-controlled, recyclable 3D-printed HZSM-5/bentonite monoliths for ex-situ catalytic cracking of polyethylene into monocyclic aromatics

Haseltalab, V., Soltanian, S., Mazhkoo, S., Norouzi, O., Dutta, A., & Yang, S. L. (2026) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2026.121849

A State-of-the-Art Microbial Biotechnology Approach for Biofuel Production from Plastic and Microplastic Waste

Sen, K. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-14215-3_3

Ba-Modulated Perovskites Enable Sustainable in Situ Steam Decoking via Lattice Oxygen Activation and Oxygen Vacancy Engineering

Liu, R., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Z., Wang, Y., Han, H., Deng, J., Wang, H., Zhang, Y., Jiang, B., Gong, X., et al. (2026) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.6c04181

Auto-Catalytic Effect of Iron on Plastic Solid Waste Pyrolysis

Marchetti, L., Doszczeczko, S., Tognotti, L., Nicolella, C., & Volpe, R. (2026) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.6c04995

Coupled Population Balance Models for Evolution of Alkane, α ‐Olefin, and α, ω ‐Olefin Molecular Weight Distributions During Polypropylene Thermal Pyrolysis

Ge, J., Russell, J. B., Kanbur, U., Ferrandon, M. S., Delferro, M., Kaphan, D. M., & Peters, B. (2026) · ChemSusChem · doi:10.1002/cssc.70877

Kinetics and product evolution in polyethylene pyrolysis over γ-Al2O3: A synergistic approach integrating particle swarm optimization, machine learning, and TG-FTIR-GC/MS

Shi, Y., Qian, Y., Bi, J., Liu, C., Zhang, H., Ma, Z., & Zhang, Y. (2026) · Journal of the Energy Institute · doi:10.1016/j.joei.2026.102675

Catalytic Pyrolysis of Multilayer Plastics Over Halloysite: Kinetics, Thermodynamics, Fuel Analysis

Aech, S., Mahapatra, P. M., Mishra, P. C., Mandal, P. K., & Panda, A. K. (2026) · Chemical Engineering & Technology · doi:10.1002/ceat.70286

Parametric analysis of ethanol-based recycling of mixed plastic waste in a circular economy

Anand, S., Joy, J., & Kumar, A. (2026) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2026.140797

Scaled-Up Microwave-Assisted Continuous Pyrolysis for Mixed Plastic Waste Valorization: Process Design and Techno-Economic Analysis toward Technology Industrialization

Franco-Mateos, E., Figueirêdo, M. B., & Julián, I. (2026) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6c00983

Catalytic Pyrolysis of High-Density Polyethylene for Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Fe/MgO

Wang, P., Wang, W., Chen, W., & Yu, J. (2026) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.6c03376

KOH/Urea-Assisted Conversion of Polyvinyl Chloride into N/O Co-Doped Porous Carbon for High-Performance Electromagnetic Wave AbsorptionPreprint

Deng, K., Gu, B., Xue, W., Jiang, Y., & Sun, C. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.7301062

A Review on Path Forward toward Sustainable Recycling of Waste Plastics through the Pyrolysis Route

Negi, P., Bhardwaj, P., Dubey, P. K., Saklani, A., Kumar, S., Kumar, A., & Palodkar, A. V. (2026) · Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data · doi:10.1021/acs.jced.6c00288

Catalytic Pyrolysis of Waste Plastics over Fly Ash-Derived Zeolite Molecular Sieve CatalystsPreprint

Liu, Z., Gong, Y., Chen, X., Wan, J., Wan, H., Wang, Q., Gu, H., Huang, L., Li, L., & Meng, C. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.7322359

Catalytic upgrading of HDPE into aromatic hydrocarbons via in situ and ex situ pyrolysis over metal-impregnated zeolite-based catalysts

Belrhazi, I., Sair, S., Ousaleh, H. A., Kongparakul, S., Samart, C., & Zahouily, M. (2026) · Molecular Catalysis · doi:10.1016/j.mcat.2026.116288

Fe-Ni Bimetallic Modified HZSM-5 for Efficient Preparation of Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons via Co-Pyrolysis of PET and LDPE

Yang, H., Zhang, C., Shang, L., Feng, H., & Xiao, N. (2026) · Catalysts · doi:10.3390/catal16090761

Recycling rice husk and low-density polyethylene via co-pyrolysis: Semi-continuous system development and catalytic performance evaluation

Zhang, J., Ke, L., Ouyang, H., Wu, Q., Zeng, Y., Zhang, Q., Dai, L., Zou, R., Ruan, R. R., & Wang, Y. (2026) · Industrial Crops and Products · doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2026.124192

Acetone-Assisted Co-Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Polylactic Acid and Spent Coffee Grounds for Enhanced Biocrude Production

강주원, Jeon, H., Lee, S., Yun, H., Kim, J.-H., & Lee, D. (2026) · Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1007/s11814-026-00805-0

Development and performance evaluation of an innovative community-scale single-pillar pyrolysis reactor for converting plastic waste into alternative liquid fuel

Thathong, V., Boonnuk, T., Tantamsapya, N., & Phimpabut, N. (2026) · Creative Science · doi:10.55674/cs.v18i3.268965

Bridging barriers: Integrated process intensification and catalytic strategies for valorizing waste polyolefin plastics to hydrocarbon products

Chen, R., Cheng, L., Zhang, W., Li, J., Gu, J., Yuan, H., & Chen, Y. (2026) · Green Energy & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.gee.2026.08.009

A multiscale kinetic study of polyethylene pyrolysis by integrating thermogravimetric analysis, ReaxFF molecular dynamics, and data-driven modeling

Liu, C., Wang, Y., & Li, A. (2026) · Chemical Engineering Science · doi:10.1016/j.ces.2026.125118

Integrated catalytic architecture for sustainable hydrogen production from algal biomass: synergistic effects of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and pyrolysis temperature

Thanikodi, S., Saravanan, R., Kumar, J. A., Al-Maaitah, M. I., Abrorbek, K., Tukhtaboev, N., & Maranan, R. (2026) · Chemical Papers · doi:10.1007/s11696-026-05641-4

Unraveling the role of Zn species in catalyst deactivation and coke formation over Zn/ HZSM ‐5 during LDPE pyrolysis

Liu, H., Shen, X., Zhao, Y., Wang, Y., Yuan, R., Deng, N., Wang, J., & Jia, L. (2026) · AIChE Journal · doi:10.1002/aic.70667

Circular management of single-use polyolefins via hydrocracking over zeolite-based catalysts

Azam, M. U., Umer, M., Graça, I., & Afzal, W. (2026) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-27739-9.00001-3

Upcycling of polymer waste into high value energy products

Aksoy, B., Ozliman, Y., & Çeliktaş, M. S. (2026) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-27739-9.00011-6

Co-production of hydrogen-rich syngas and carbon nanotubes from polyethylene via pyrolysis-catalytic gasification over Ni-modified HZSM-5 zeolite

Yang, Y., Chen, Z., Duan, H., Li, X., & Zou, L. (2026) · Journal of the Energy Institute · doi:10.1016/j.joei.2026.102733

Liquid fuel from plastic wastes by catalytic pyrolysis: The role of hierarchical ZSM-11

Bonetto, L., Rocha, M. V., Saux, C., & Renzini, M. S. (2026) · Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy · doi:10.1063/5.0324685

Coupled Fe-selective heating and field-associated interfacial response in microwave-assisted polyethylene pyrolysis: A ReaxFF molecular dynamics study

Wang, Z., Lv, B., Zhongfa, H., Wu, X., Ye, Q., Xue, Y., & Wang, X. (2026) · Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis · doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2026.108172

Reflux-assisted pyrolysis of LDPE with alumina packing: Trade-offs in product quality and energy requirements

Zairin, D. M., Ruiz, M. P., & Kersten, S. R. A. (2026) · Fuel Processing Technology · doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2026.108617

Enhanced gasoline-range hydrocarbon production through catalytic pyrolysis of polypropylene at atmospheric pressure over structured zeolite Y catalyst

Shahdadi, A., Rahimi, S., & Rostamizadeh, M. (2026) · Powder Technology · doi:10.1016/j.powtec.2026.123333

Understanding the catalytic pyrolysis of polystyrene to fuels and monoaromatics

Wang, Y., Zuo, L., Rothenberg, G., & Zhang, J. (2026) · Green Chemistry · doi:10.1039/d6gc03694e

Advancements in heterogeneous catalyst design for plastic upcycling: metal sites, support regulation and acid-metal synergy

Huo, Z., Yu, J., & Dai, W. (2026) · Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica · doi:10.1016/j.actphy.2026.100468

Ruthenium Single Atom Switches the Interfacial Mechanism to Mars–van Krevelen for Coking-Resistant Photothermocatalytic Reforming of (Micro)Plastics with CO2

Wang, Z., Tian, J., Fresno, F., 杜林鹏, Patrocínio, A. O. T., Ribeiro, C., Zhang, K., Xiao, J., Li, Z., Bahnemann, D. W., et al. (2026) · ACS Catalysis · doi:10.1021/acscatal.6c06429

Advances in medical plastic waste treatment methods towards sustainable development

Kotiyal, A., Zaidi, M. G. H., Mehtab, S., Maheshwari, J., Fatima, A., & Dusad, A. (2026) · Discover Chemistry. · doi:10.1007/s44371-026-01061-1

Transforming Waste Plastics into Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Technologies, Challenges, and Future Prospects

Kushwaha, A., Fatima, N., Hans, N., Singh, D., Sharma, U. C., Verma, P., Rani, R., Bahukhandi, K. D., -, S. S., & Choi, Y.-E. (2026) · doi:10.1021/bk-2026-1532.ch004

Valorizing Mixed Plastic–Biomass Waste via Fe/ZnO-Catalyzed Microwave Pyrolysis: Coupled Generation of Hydrogen-Rich Fuel Gas and Carbon Nanostructures

Kumar, K., & Reddy, B. R. (2026) · Journal of environmental chemical engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2026.125785

Pyrolysis of the Plastics: Catalysts, Product Applications, and Techno-economic Assessment

Pandey, A., Subedi, A., Shakya, S. R., & Paudel, S. R. (2025) · Natural Built Social Environment Health · doi:10.63095/nbseh.25.452055 · Cited by 3

Recent Research Advancements in Catalytic Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste

Mishra, R., Kumar, A., Singh, E., & Kumar, S. (2023) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c05759 · Cited by 147

Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics to High Value‐Added Products via Pyrolysis: Current Trends, Future Perspectives, and Techno‐Feasibility Analysis

Hussain, I., Aitani, A. M., Malaibari, Z. O., Alasiri, H. S., Akhtar, M. N., Aldosari, O. F., & Ahmed, S. (2023) · The Chemical Record · doi:10.1002/tcr.202200294 · Cited by 37

Catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics to liquid fuels: pathways, mechanisms, and challenges

Feng, Q., Li, J., Yin, W., Sun, G., & Zhang, L. (2026) · Chemical Engineering Science · doi:10.1016/j.ces.2026.125040

Catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste: A review

Miandad, R., Barakat, M. A. E.-F., Aburiazaiza, A. S., Rehan, M., & Nizami, A. (2016) · Process Safety and Environmental Protection · doi:10.1016/j.psep.2016.06.022 · Cited by 1,029