Every year, mountains of plastic pile up in landfills and drift into the world’s oceans, while greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide continue to build in the atmosphere.
Now, scientists at the University of Copenhagen believe they may have found a way to tackle both crises at once.
In a study published in Science Advances, the team reports a breakthrough method to transform discarded plastic into a new material that can efficiently capture CO₂.
The material, called BAETA, is made from PET plastic—the same type commonly used in bottles and food packaging.
PET is everywhere, but once discarded, it poses enormous environmental challenges. In landfills, it breaks down into polluting microplastics that seep into soil and groundwater.
In the oceans, it threatens marine ecosystems. Recycling efforts recover only a fraction of PET, leaving most of it to linger for centuries.
That is why the researchers see their invention as “two solutions in one.”
By chemically converting plastic waste into BAETA, they not only prevent it from polluting the environment but also create a powerful tool to trap CO₂ from the air or from industrial emissions.
“The beauty of this method is that we solve a problem without creating a new one,” explained Margarita Poderyte, lead author of the study.
“By turning waste into a raw material that can actively reduce greenhouse gases, we make an environmental issue part of the solution to the climate crisis.”
The process is surprisingly gentle compared to existing carbon capture methods. Instead of requiring extremely high temperatures or harsh chemicals, BAETA can be synthesized at room temperature. The result is a fine powder that can be formed into pellets.
Its upgraded surface structure allows it to bind CO₂ with remarkable efficiency.
Once BAETA is saturated with CO₂, the gas can be released simply by heating the material. This makes it possible to collect the concentrated CO₂ for storage or reuse, while the BAETA can be recycled and used again.
The material is also highly versatile. Tests show that BAETA remains effective from room temperature up to around 150°C, which is especially useful for capturing CO₂ at industrial plants, where exhaust gases are often hot. “One of the impressive things about this material is that it stays effective for a long time,” said Jiwoong Lee, associate professor and co-author of the study.
“With its tolerance for high temperatures, it can be installed right at the end of industrial chimneys to remove CO₂ from emissions.”
The next challenge is scaling up production. The team has already proven the material’s potential in the laboratory, and now they are seeking investment to manufacture it on a much larger scale. If successful, BAETA could become a cost-effective addition to industrial carbon capture systems.
Even more exciting, the researchers see vast untapped potential in the oceans themselves. The highly degraded PET plastic floating at sea, they note, would be an ideal raw material for producing BAETA.
In this way, cleaning up plastic pollution could directly feed into the fight against climate change, creating a powerful economic incentive to remove waste from the oceans.
As Poderyte put it, “Our goal is to show that environmental problems aren’t isolated. With the right approach, one problem can become part of the solution to another.”
