Bill Bovingdon (@williambovingdon.substack.com)

Clean hydrogen created from plastic waste using battery acid from old cars and solar power Scientists have developed a method to turn plastic waste into clean hydrogen using solar power and acid from old car batteries. The one-pot process transforms hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable industrial chemicals and clean fuel, potentially creating a circular upcycling system that tackles multiple problematic waste streams at once, the researchers say. The world produced more than 440 million U.S. tons (400 million metric tons) of plastic waste in 2025, but less than 10% of this was actually recycled. The challenge lies in the sheer number of different plastics we use. Some, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, can be easily melted down and remolded, while others require specific chemical processes to break the polymer structure down into its individual chemical building blocks (known as monomers). Condensation polymers like polyethylene terephthalate (PET, often used for packaging food and drinks), polyurethane (PU, which can be used in foam cushioning, bedding and insulation), and nylon fall into this latter category. A chemical reaction between two different monomer units releases water to form bonds between these fragments, creating a long alternating polymer chain. These bonds can later be broken by adding water back to the molecule, releasing the monomer building blocks and breaking down the... https://www.livescience.com/chemistry/clean-hydrogen-created-from-plastic-waste-using-battery-acid-from-old-cars-and-solar-power