Story perspectives

Chinese Researchers Convert Waste Plastics into Low-Cost Jet Fuel

7/20/2026

Summary

Story summary

Scientists at Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University unveiled a low-cost method that converts waste plastics into aviation fuel.
The method hydrogenolyzes polyolefins such as polythene and polypropylene with metal catalysts that cleave carbon-carbon bonds, targeting waste from over 460 million tonnes of plastic production.
The resulting C8-C16 hydrocarbons are suitable for aviation fuel, but researchers say scaling the technology remains a longstanding fundamental challenge.

1 of 1

Story summary

Scientists at Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University unveiled a low-cost method that converts waste plastics into aviation fuel.
The method hydrogenolyzes polyolefins such as polythene and polypropylene with metal catalysts that cleave carbon-carbon bonds, targeting waste from over 460 million tonnes of plastic production.
The resulting C8-C16 hydrocarbons are suitable for aviation fuel, but researchers say scaling the technology remains a longstanding fundamental challenge.