We reviewed 195 references discussing the pyrolysis of plastic waste, with the aim of analyzing the technical aspects (feedstocks, process parameters, reactors, products, catalysts, kinetics, and pollutants), the economic feasibility for the industrial implementation, and the environmental assessment through Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). In the last decade, the scientific community primarily studied individual virgin polymers (79% of the references) through batch lab-scale tests, mostly at temperatures around 500°C (46% of the selected references). Depending on the polymer (PE, PP, PET, PS), reactor type and operating conditions the relative amounts of gas/condensable/solid products varied, whereas PVC was considered undesirable due to the formation of corrosive gases. Liquid products are the most common targets, due to their application as fuels. Several technical issues (such as the impact of residence time and pressure, and low-cost catalysts) need further attention. Very few LCA studies explored plastic waste pyrolysis, with insufficient results for a thorough environmental assessment of the processes. Only seven references investigated the techno-economic feasibility of plastic waste pyrolysis at full-scale, achieving results that are interesting but too scarce for any conclusive evaluation. This represents the most significant knowledge gap identified in the review, as the techno-economic sustainability is a fundamental factor for the technological transfer. Pyrolysis has been proven to be a viable technology to convert plastic waste into high value-added products that can be utilized as fuels, chemicals and/or building blocks. This review provides guidance for further research and aims at stimulating the interest of the industrial world regarding the possible implementation of this technology.

中文翻译：

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塑料废物热解转化为燃料和化学品的综述

我们回顾了 195 篇讨论塑料废物热解的参考文献，旨在分析技术方面（原料、工艺参数、反应器、产品、催化剂、动力学和污染物）、工业实施的经济可行性以及环境评估生命周期分析（LCA）。在过去的十年中，科学界主要通过批量实验室规模测试来研究单个原始聚合物（占参考文献的 79%），大多在 500°C 左右的温度下进行（占所选参考文献的 46%）。根据聚合物（PE、PP、PET、PS）、反应器类型和操作条件，气体/可冷凝/固体产物的相对量有所不同，而 PVC 由于形成腐蚀性气体而被认为是不受欢迎的。液体产品因其用作燃料而成为最常见的目标。几个技术问题（例如停留时间和压力的影响以及低成本催化剂）需要进一步关注。很少有生命周期评价研究探索塑料废物热解，且结果不足以对过程进行彻底的环境评估。只有七篇参考文献全面研究了塑料废物热解的技术经济可行性，取得了有趣但缺乏任何结论性评估的结果。这代表了审查中发现的最重大的知识差距，因为技术经济可持续性是技术转让的基本因素。热解已被证明是将塑料废物转化为可用作燃料、化学品和/或建筑材料的高附加值产品的可行技术。该综述为进一步的研究提供了指导，旨在激发工业界对该技术的可能实施的兴趣。