“The current recycling techniques for plastic produce products of inferior quality. That is why I am working on new ways of chemical recycling.”
Research focus: chemical recycling, upcycling, mechano-catalysis
Ina Vollmer is a researcher in the Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis research group at Utrecht University and is affiliated with the ARC-CBBC consortium and the Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry. She researches various chemical recycling methods.
In Europe, only 45 percent of all plastic waste is recovered and a much smaller proportion is recycled. Therefore, we need to build up more recycling capacity.
Ina Vollmer researches various chemical recycling methods, in which the polymer chains are broken down into chemical building blocks, preferably monomers. With a catalyst and using mechanochemistry, Ina Vollmer wants to lower the temperature required for the recycling process and increase product quality. This could provide interesting materials for the refining industry, reducing the use of crude oil and preventing plastic waste from ending up in the ocean or even in the human body. In this way, Ina Vollmer's research contributes to reducing the plastic waste mountain.
Areas of interest:
- Chemical recycling
- Upcycling
- Mechano-catalysis