Global concern about environmental pollution has increased in recent times due to the cumulative harmful impact on the human health occasioned by the diverse toxic substances released into the environment. Water reduced availability for human consumption and its pollution have been paid so much attention due to their relevance in agricultural and industrial activities. In this context, the advanced oxidation processes for removing contaminants from water, more specifically photocatalytic processes, have displayed their usefulness due to features such as easy application, low-cost, harmless effects and sustainable decontamination efficiency. This timely review is centered on worldwide studies, where efforts aimed at employing recycled materials as supports for purification applications such as the removal of different contaminants (dyes, pharmaceutical contaminants, and heavy metals) dissolved in aqueous environments have been reported. Materials like polyethylene terephthalic (PET), polystyrene (PS), disposal textile fabrics, newspapers, aluminum soda cans, rubber, waste electronic and electric components and used batteries have been employed either as supports for immobilizing catalysts or as photocatalysts. The present work offers a discussion of the ways through which photocatalytic composites have been immobilized or produced, employed characterization techniques, removal efficiencies achieved during photocatalytic degradation and possible degradation mechanism of pollutants; not only the highlights of all these studies are discussed, but also paths for future research works that could help improve the reported results are suggested. These new practical tools stand as novel sustainable strategies for the removal of emerging contaminants reusing waste flexible materials.

由于释放到环境中的多种有毒物质对人类健康造成累积性有害影响，近年来全球对环境污染的关注日益增加。由于水资源与农业和工业活动的相关性，人类消费的水资源减少及其污染受到了如此多的关注。在这种情况下，用于去除水中污染物的高级氧化工艺，更具体地说是光催化工艺，由于具有易于应用、低成本、无害效果和可持续的去污效率等特点，已显示出其实用性。本次及时审查以全球研究为中心，这些研究旨在采用回收材料作为净化应用的支持，例如去除不同的污染物（染料、溶解在水性环境中的药物污染物和重金属）。聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET)、聚苯乙烯 (PS)、废弃纺织织物、报纸、铝苏打罐、橡胶、废弃电子和电子元件以及废旧电池等材料已被用作固定催化剂的载体或光催化剂。目前的工作讨论了固定或生产光催化复合材料的方法、采用的表征技术、光催化降解过程中实现的去除效率以及污染物的可能降解机制；不仅讨论了所有这些研究的亮点，而且还建议了有助于改进报告结果的未来研究工作的路径。