White-Light-Induced Vanadyl-Catalyzed Chemical Recycling of Polyesters at Room Temperature

The continuous accumulation of postconsumer polyesters has caused a severe environmental and ecological crisis. Chemical recycling provides a promising strategy for transforming polyester waste back to monomers and value-added chemicals with improved energy efficiency. Herein, we report a chemical recycling of polyesters via the white-light-induced vanadyl catalysis at room temperature (without external heating; 25°C–50°C under irradiation). Mechanistic studies demonstrated the dual roles of the vanadyl photocatalyst in both bond activation and hierarchical structural disintegration. The protocol is highly compatible with 27 examples of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-based materials, even reinforced packaging containers and colored composite textiles, affording terephthalic acid (TPA) monomer with up to quantitative yields. A 100 g-scale experiment further demonstrated the robustness and feasibility of the process as a practical strategy for PET waste valorization.