Photocatalytic upcycling of plastic waste coupled with CO2 reduction to high-value chemicals

Summary: Plastic waste imposes a severe burden on the ecological environment, and CO 2 emissions have led to frequent extreme weather events. Photoreforming of plastics coupled with CO 2 reduction has attracted widespread attention by utilizing waste plastics both as electron donors and, via intermediate CO 2 release in some cascaded pathways, as secondary carbon sources. Photogenerated holes directly oxidize and degrade plastics into high-value chemicals, while the retained electrons drive CO 2 reduction to gaseous fuels such as CO and CH 4 , thereby enabling concurrent plastic upcycling and CO 2 utilization. This review synthesizes the core differences between conventional CO 2 reduction and plastic photoreforming CO 2 reduction, clarifies the dual role of plastics, and summarizes relevant performance studies across three system configurations, including conventional photocatalysis, plastic-coupled photoreforming, and photoelectrocatalytic integration. Finally, it discusses key challenges and outlines future research directions for advancing next-generation plastic photoreforming CO 2 reduction technology toward practical implementation.