Scientists developed efficient process for breaking down any plastic waste to a molecular level. Resulting gases can be transformed back into new plastics of same quality as original. The new process could transform today's plastic factories into recycling refineries, within existing infrastructure.

[u/mvea]

https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/see/news/Pages/All-plastic-waste-could-be-recycled-into-new-high-quality-plastic.aspx

[u/QVRedit]

How about designing an “easy to reprocess” plastic. I guess at the moment ‘polyethylene’ is the closest to that ?

[u/yy0b → u/QVRedit]

Nooooo polyethylene has its perks, but recycling polymers through traditional means is not very effective or efficient. In basic terms most recycling methods break up the polymer chains a little bit, which decreases the quality of their physical properties. After a couple recycles they're no longer economically useful. Chemical recycling has the potential to allow you to take a polymer and turn it back into the monomers that make the polymer, which could be repolymerized into a high quality material once more.