Upcycling Municipal Solid Waste to Polymers and Bioethanol

Upcycling Municipal Solid Waste to Polymers and Bioethanol | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Upcycling Municipal Solid Waste to Polymers and Bioethanol George Huber, Euncheol Ra, Yoel Cortes-Pena, David Rivera-Kohr, and 24 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8978755/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Municipal solid waste (MSW) is heterogeneous and contaminated, making integrated valorization difficult. Here we directly process raw MSW using a platform that couples solvent-targeted recovery and precipitation (STRAP) with enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation to co-produce plastic resins and ethanol. Thermodynamically guided solvent selection enables STRAP to recover polyolefins (PE and PP) from the plastic fraction while enriching the remaining biogenic fraction. The residue is enzymatically hydrolyzed to generate concentrated fermentable sugars, which are converted to ethanol via microbial fermentation. Demonstrating performance on real, unwashed MSW establishes robustness to unavoidable feed variability and contamination and provides a practical circular pathway linking high-quality polymer recovery with biochemical fuel production. Techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessment indicate the integrated system can be economically promising and reduce environmental impacts relative to conventional disposal and production routes. Physical sciences/Engineering/Chemical engineering Physical sciences/Chemistry/Green chemistry/Biofuels/Bioalcohols Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Nat.Chem.Eng.MSWAuthorList.pdf Author List Nat.Chem.Eng.MSWSIv1.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8978755","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":604679684,"identity":"0c0912db-5825-4819-95d1-b76d77c9db2d","order_by":0,"name":"George 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