Recent Advances in the Chemical Recycling of Polyamide for a Sustainable Circular Economy

Polyamide (PA) constitutes a class of highly versatile polymers that are employed in the fabrication of fibers, plastics, and membranes. However, the high consumption of the commodity PA has posed a considerable and urgent waste management challenge. As the concept of a circular economy is deeply rooted, there have been numerous circular solutions for PA waste recycling. Chemical recycling processes are powerful tools for managing the end-of-life of PA, obtaining constituent monomers, or other value-added chemical products. To achieve a high depolymerization efficiency as well as monomer selectivity, several chemical recycling processes have been demonstrated. Accordingly, this review summarizes recent advances in the chemical recycling and upcycling of PA (especially PA 6 and PA 66). We highlight three research topics: catalyst development, decomposing agent’s interaction, and process intensification. We expect to provide inspiration for PA depolymerization at different scales, which will contribute to the sustainability of PA throughout its entire lifecycle.