Catalytic Waste Valorization Must Move beyond Model Systems

A mid growing resource scarcity and environmental pressure, waste recycling is becoming a core pillar of green development. 1Policy frameworks in China, the European Union, and the United States have all emphasized recyclable-resource utilization, secondary raw-material markets and improved recycling systems. [2][3]3][4] Together, these efforts reflect a broader shift: waste is increasingly viewed not as a disposal burden, but as a strategic resource base linked to resource security, industrial resilience, and carbon mitigation.Yet current recycling systems remain dominated by physical and metallurgical routes.Plastics are still mainly recycled through sorting, washing, shredding, and melt reprocessing, while spent batteries and electronic waste generally require pretreatment, separation, and pyro-or hydrometallurgical recovery of valuable metals. [5][6]6][7] Although indispensable, these routes often involve high-temperature processing, intensive reagent use, and repeated separation steps, which reduce economic margins and value retention.The key challenge is therefore not simply to recover matter, but to recover it in forms suitable for high-value reintegration into manufacturing.