Sustainable Strategies for Converting Organic, Electronic, and Plastic Waste From Municipal Solid Waste Into Functional Materials

Abstract

The valorization of municipal solid waste permits to obtain sustainable functional materials. As the urban population burgeons, so does the volume of discarded waste, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity. Harnessing the materials and the latent energy within this solid waste not only addresses the issue of disposal but also contributes to the innovation of functional materials with applications in the energy, electronics, and environment sectors. In this perspective, technologies for converting, after sorting, municipal solid waste into valuable metals, chemicals, and fuels are critically analyzed. Innovative approaches to convert organic waste into functional carbon materials and to create, from plastic and electronic wastes, metal–organic frameworks for energy conversion, storage, and CO₂ adsorption and conversion are proposed. Green hydrometallurgy routes that permit the recovery of precious metals avoiding noble metals’ oxidative leaching, thus avoiding their downcycling, are also highlighted. The reclaimed precious metals hold promise for use in optoelectronic devices.