US Government’s four-track path to tackle hard-to-recycle plastics

The US Department of Energy has set out how a pioneering research department is tackling the challenge of hard-to-recycle plastics.

The chemical oxidation recycling platform, originally developed through the department’s ‘Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Consortium’, is researching practical, cost-effective and scalable solutions for processing contaminated, mixed and multilayer plastic waste.

Award-winning R&D

The platform is said to be demonstrating its effectiveness through four ongoing research projects. R&D Magazine named the platform a finalist in its 2025 awards, recognising it as one of the year’s top innovations. 

‘This is a promising technology with potential for handling plastic waste streams that are hard to recycle today,’ says Gregg Beckham, a senior research fellow at the National Laboratory of the Rockies and ceo of the BOTTLE Consortium. ‘We’re now taking a closer look at its economics, applicability and scalability across a variety of applications.’

Key patents

Oxygen, heat, solvent and widely available catalysts are used to deconstruct post-consumer plastic waste, even when contaminated or structurally complex, recovering high-value chemical feedstocks.The consortium has secured four core patent applications and is progressing toward broader commercial adoption through four projects:

• polyester textile recycling – converting post-consumer polyester clothing into virgin-quality clothing materials
• polyethylene-to-surfactant conversion – transforming polyethylene into dicarboxylic acids for high-demand detergents and household products
• polystyrene upgrading via synthetic biology – pairing chemical oxidation with engineered microbes to convert polystyrene into a single, high-value product such as muconic acid, a precursor to nylon and other materials
• multilayer film recycling – deconstructing flexible layered films commonly used in consumer packaging and separating useful polymers from adhesives, foils and other additives

National strategy needed

Meanwhile, a report from University of Houston’s Energy Transition Institute suggests a uniform, national plan may be the best approach for the United States to tackle plastic waste. The institute has published a paper titled ‘EPR for plastics packaging: gaps, challenges and opportunities for policies in the United States’ whichoffers potential policy solutions that could improve recycling rates and ultimately create a circular plastics economy.

Aligning state policies, improving data sharing and reinvesting recycling fees into infrastructure could transform how plastics are managed, says Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vp for energy and innovation at the university and one of three co-authors.

‘Not only will this information identify policies that help reduce waste, but they could also prove to be a boon to the circular economy as they can identify economically beneficial pathways to recycle materials.’

Inefficient system

The paper found the current recycling system offering a mix of state laws and limited infrastructure is holding back national progress. The researchers said the system was inefficient and difficult to navigate. Only seven states have passed EPR laws for plastic packaging, while 10 others are considering similar measures.

Each state, however, has taken a different approach.‘With each state developing its own reporting system, EPR in the US could have incompatible datasets, which will prevent performance comparison across jurisdictions when collection begins,’ the report argues.

‘Even for companies without an international footprint, domestic operations across multiple states will be challenged by compliance requirements with different formats, deadlines, fee structures and incentive criteria.’

In addition to the current system’s lack of consistency, small businesses typically lack the resources to manage complex reporting systems. The paper also highlights outdated recycling infrastructure, saying it adds to the problem as many facilities rely on old technology that cannot handle modern packaging.