Research group Kostas Parkatzidis group

In the Sustainable Polymer Chemistry (SPC) group, we are focusing on the question of how we balance the enormous global demand for plastics with the growing plastic waste problem and the currently low recycling rates. We believe there is no single solution to this challenge. Instead, we need to rethink how we design, recycle, and manufacture polymeric materials. For this reason, we structure our research around three main directions.
The first is the design of new materials that are both functional and recyclable by design. The second focuses on chemical recycling of plastics, particularly catalytic approaches that can convert existing plastics back into monomers or valuable chemical feedstocks. The third direction explores closed-loop manufacturing, where polymerization and depolymerization are combined to enable circular fabrication processes. Overall, our goal is to contribute to new strategies that allow plastics to remain valuable materials while significantly reducing their environmental impact.