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Chemistry and materials science for a sustainable circular polymeric economy

Nature Reviews Materials volume 7, pages 76–78 (2022)Cite this article

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Chemistry plays a determining role in every stage of the plastic life cycle. We reflect on the challenges and limitations of plastics — their sheer abundance, chemodiversity and imperfect recoverability leading to loss of material — and on the need for chemical and non-chemical approaches to overcome them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sustainable Chemistry, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Vânia G. Zuin & Klaus Kümmerer

  2. Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, University of York, York, UK

    Vânia G. Zuin

  3. Department of Chemistry, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil

    Vânia G. Zuin

  4. Research and Education, International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre ISC3, Bonn, Germany

    Klaus Kümmerer

Authors
  1. Vânia G. Zuin
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  2. Klaus Kümmerer
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Correspondence to Vânia G. Zuin or Klaus Kümmerer.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zuin, V.G., Kümmerer, K. Chemistry and materials science for a sustainable circular polymeric economy. Nat Rev Mater 7, 76–78 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-022-00415-2

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