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LEARNING PATH · Intermediate

Plastic Waste to Renewable Carbon

Follow plastic wastes through classification, selective conversion, circular carbon choices, deployment constraints and life-cycle outcomes.

3.5 h7 lessonsIntermediate
Start path →
Integrated conversion landscape with thermochemical, biochemical, catalytic and separation equipment leading to fuels and carbon materials.PWtResources → Outcomes

Prerequisites

Basic chemistry is helpful but not required.

Learning objectives

  • Distinguish recycling, upcycling and renewable-carbon substitution claims.
  • Relate selectivity and separation to system performance.
  • Evaluate competing uses and credible counterfactuals.

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Visual roadmap

Lesson sequence

223 min

01Wastes, by-products and secondary feedstocksIntermediate · 27 minHow current fate, contamination, regulation and avoided treatment shape the value of waste-derived resources.02Fermentation, catalysis and upgradingIntermediate · 30 minBiological selectivity and catalytic transformation are both powerful, but they impose different feed purity, operating and separation demands.03Renewable carbon materials, hard carbon and plastic upcyclingIntermediate · 32 minMaterial pathways preserve carbon in products but must align molecular transformation, separation, performance, markets and end-of-life.04Cascading use and technology competitionIntermediate · 28 minCascading seeks to preserve function and value across sequential uses, but priorities depend on evidence, markets and outcomes.05Why optimal is not deployableAdvanced · 34 minA model chooses within its represented world; deployment must survive omitted constraints, uncertainty, actor incentives, timing and implementation.06Life-cycle assessmentIntermediate · 36 minLCA connects a decision question to a functional unit, system inventory, impact assessment and interpretation across a product life cycle.07Techno-economic analysis, cost and cash flowIntermediate · 36 minTEA translates a process design and financing assumptions into cost, price and return metrics while exposing performance and scale drivers.
TOOLS

Related tools

U.S. Department of Energy

TECHTEST

A spreadsheet-based early-stage tool combining simplified techno-economic and life-cycle analysis.

Use it when
Which performance factors dominate the potential cost and energy profile of an emerging technology?
Limits
A screening tool does not replace a detailed process design, project finance model or critical review.
Inputs, outputs & scope
Inputs
Technology performance, lifetime, energy and cost assumptions, and a benchmark.
Outputs
Screening-level cost, energy and scenario comparisons.
Typical applications
Early R&D prioritization, benchmark comparison and scenario screening.
Explore the official tool ↗
GreenDelta

openLCA

An open-source desktop platform for constructing life-cycle inventories and impact assessments.

Use it when
How can a product system, exchanges, allocation and impact methods be assembled and audited?
Limits
Software does not supply a defensible boundary or dataset license; modelling choices still require documentation and review.
Inputs, outputs & scope
Inputs
Process inventories, flows, databases, functional unit, system model and impact method.
Outputs
Inventory results, characterized impacts, contribution analysis and scenario comparisons.
Typical applications
Transparent teaching models, product LCA, hotspot analysis and critical-review packages.
Explore the official tool ↗
Brightway project

Brightway

An open-source Python framework for matrix-based LCA, scenario analysis and advanced computational workflows.

Use it when
How can reproducible LCA calculations be automated, parameterized and extended?
Limits
Requires programming and careful database management; computational flexibility can amplify undocumented assumptions.
Inputs, outputs & scope
Inputs
Technosphere and biosphere matrices, demand, characterization methods and scenario parameters.
Outputs
LCI/LCIA matrices, contribution tables, uncertainty and parameterized scenario results.
Typical applications
Research-grade reproducible LCA, Monte Carlo analysis and coupling with optimization or process models.
Explore the official tool ↗
CASE STUDIES

Examples from Wang Group

2023Conversion

Mixed plastics wastes upcycling with high-stability single-atom Ru catalyst

A conversion case for discussing mixed-plastic heterogeneity, catalyst stability and why selectivity must be read with feedstock composition.

2025Conversion

Breaking the yield–selectivity trade-off in polystyrene waste valorization via tandem depolymerization and hydrogenolysis

Provides a clear conversion example of a yield–selectivity trade-off and the value of tandem process design.

2026Conversion

Ambient-pressure conversion of plastic waste to jet fuel cycloalkanes by tandem hydropyrolysis and vapour-phase hydrogenation

A plastic-to-jet-fuel conversion case for separating molecular feasibility from feedstock supply, hydrogen, certification and deployment questions.

2022Outcomes

Pyrolysis of engineered beach-cast seaweed: Performances and life cycle assessment

A useful LCA case because engineered beach-cast seaweed makes collection, pretreatment and alternative management part of the boundary.

2025Deployment

Assessing the Techno-Economic Feasibility of Bamboo Residue-Derived Hard Carbon

Connects regional bamboo-residue supply, process assumptions and discounted cash flow to a deployability question for hard carbon.