# UCLA-Ewha process turns mixed plastic waste into hydrogen while trapping carbon

_Friday, July 31, 2026 at 8:46 AM EDT · Science · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![UCLA-Ewha process turns mixed plastic waste into hydrogen while trapping carbon — Primary](https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/1920/thermal-treatment-process-transforms-plastic-waste-into-hydrogen-fuel.webp)

Researchers co-led by UCLA Samueli and Ewha Womans University demonstrated alkaline thermal treatment that converts mixed PET, polyethylene and polypropylene waste into high-purity hydrogen while keeping most carbon out of the atmosphere, ScienceDaily reported from University of California - Los Angeles materials.

In the process, sodium hydroxide reacts with plastics under heat to produce hydrogen more than 90% pure without sorting the three common polymers first. The method runs hundreds of degrees Celsius cooler than conventional steam gasification. A thermal oxidation pretreatment adds reactive groups so PE and PP break down alongside PET.

During the reaction, sodium hydroxide captures carbon as solid sodium carbonate; analysis found more than 75% of the plastic carbon ended in stable carbonates or liquid organic residues, with less than 13% in the gas phase and negligible direct atmospheric release. Sodium carbonate can be converted to calcium carbonate for mineral storage.

Co-corresponding authors Ah-Hyung Alissa Park of UCLA and Woo-Jae Kim of Ewha adapted a biomass hydrogen method to plastics. The findings appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team said more work is needed before commercial scale and economic hydrogen production.

## Sources

- [ScienceDaily](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729051521.htm)

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Retrieved: 2026-08-02T17:12:34.294Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)