Teflon—the famous non-stick coating found on frying pans and countless industrial products—has long been considered nearly impossible to recycle.
But now, scientists in the UK have discovered a simple, eco-friendly way to break it down into useful materials without creating pollution or using large amounts of energy.
Researchers from Newcastle University and the University of Birmingham have developed a new recycling method that can turn waste Teflon, also known as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), into valuable chemicals at room temperature.
Their process uses only sodium metal and mechanical movement—basically shaking—without any toxic solvents or high heat.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, introduces a clean and low-energy alternative to traditional ways of handling fluorine-based materials.
Dr. Roly Armstrong, a chemistry lecturer at Newcastle University, explained that the new method breaks the tough carbon–fluorine bonds that make Teflon so durable.
“Our process converts Teflon into sodium fluoride, which is the same safe compound found in toothpaste and drinking water,” he said.
“Hundreds of thousands of tons of Teflon are made every year for products like cookware coatings and lubricants, but most of it ends up in landfills. Now, we can extract the fluorine from waste Teflon and reuse it to create valuable new materials.”
Fluorine is an important element used in about one-third of all new medicines and in many high-performance materials, such as electronics and batteries.
However, extracting fluorine traditionally requires energy-hungry mining and harsh chemical reactions that harm the environment.
“Our method shows that we can recover fluorine from everyday waste instead of digging it out of the earth,” said Associate Professor Dr. Erli Lu from the University of Birmingham. “It turns what used to be a waste problem into a new source of valuable material.”
Teflon is famous for being extremely resistant to heat and chemicals, which makes it useful—but also very hard to dispose of safely.
When burned, it releases harmful “forever chemicals” (PFAS) that linger in the environment for decades. Until now, there has been no practical, environmentally friendly way to recycle it.
The research team tackled this issue using a technique called mechanochemistry. Instead of using heat or solvents, mechanochemistry uses mechanical energy to drive chemical reactions.
In their experiment, the scientists placed Teflon and sodium metal inside a sealed steel container called a ball mill.
As the container shook and rotated, the movement caused the two materials to react. At room temperature, this reaction broke down the Teflon, producing harmless carbon and sodium fluoride.
The researchers then showed that the sodium fluoride could be reused immediately to make other fluorine-based compounds, including chemicals used in medicine and diagnostics.
To confirm the purity of their product, the team used a high-tech method called solid-state NMR spectroscopy, which can examine materials at the atomic level.
“This allowed us to prove that the reaction produces clean sodium fluoride without any unwanted by-products,” said Dr. Dominik Kubicki, who leads the spectroscopy team at Birmingham.
This discovery offers a new blueprint for a circular economy for fluorine, where valuable elements can be recovered from waste and reused.
It could help reduce pollution and the environmental footprint of industries that rely on fluorine-based compounds. “Our approach is simple, fast, and affordable,” said Dr. Lu. “We hope it will inspire more research on recycling other types of fluorinated plastics and make chemistry greener.”
By showing how mechanical motion can replace heat and harsh chemicals, the study highlights the growing role of mechanochemistry in sustainable science.
As Dr. Kubicki put it, “We’ve shown that even one of the most persistent plastics can be turned into something useful again. It’s a small but important step toward a cleaner and more sustainable future.”
