SBIR Phase I: Low-Cost, Waste-Resilient Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and Polyester Upcycling Through Macrocyclic Chemistry

The broader/commercial impact of this SBIR Phase I project is the development of an efficient recycling technology that converts mixed and contaminated low value polyester textile waste into a high-purity, high value solution. This innovation enhances scientific understanding of recycling through investigation of impurities in plastic waste and the removal of the latter. Commercially, the technology addresses a global market exceeding 100 million metric tons and >$130B per year, where demand for high-quality recycled content is rapidly growing. The initial market focus will be on packaging and textiles, sectors actively seeking cost-effective, virgin-grade recycled plastic. By avoiding costly breakdown into lower value components and high energy inputs, this technology achieves cost parity, providing a sustained competitive advantage over incumbents. It enables domestic supply chain resiliency, while diverting strategic resources into fuel and energy rather than plastics, and waste away from our waterways. The business model involves direct sales of recycled plastic to converters and brands. Because the recycled plastic meets virgin performance specifications and integrates seamlessly into existing supply chains, it enables customers to meet recycled content targets without a cost premium. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops a new process to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester materials through a non-destructive and selective process. In the >$100 billion PET and polyester markets, existing mechanical recycling is very limited given typically observed contamination levels and the inability to remove them. Chemical recycling technologies, such as Methanolysis, Glycolysis or Enzymolysis of PET back into its monomers, have the potential to derive virgin-grade PET from wastes but are complex, costly, and thus mostly not economically competitive with fossil-based plastic production. This SBIR Phase I project develops a new technology that does not follow the depolymerization of plastic waste to monomers but performs the formation of macrocyclic oligomers from polyester waste by means of solvents and catalysts, the ring-opening polymerization thereof to obtain virgin-grade PET, while removing non-PET impurities such as dyes and other contaminants along the process. In this project, new impurity removal steps will be developed to make the technology resilient to mixed waste streams, product quality will be assessed and benchmarked with state-of-the-art analytics to elucidate fit for market demands, and technoeconomic analysis will be performed to assess the process’ competitiveness with fossil PET production and other technologies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.