The article claims that this process makes these plastics infinitely reusable with no degradation in quality. It can also create plastics of different types from the same recycled materials. The process also requires less energy than traditional heat methods
Mainstream plastic, like PETE, HDPE, PP, PS, etc. etc. are all "downcycled", never truly "recycled". Just like paper, they lose value each time you send them to the recycling plant.
This new plastic has a mechanism that might work for true recycling. But... maybe not. Its one thing to prove a few tricks, but in practice... won't contaminants also be dissolved in that acid bath?
Ex: a lot of plastic containers are used in the food industry. Many (american)-Chinese food businesses use plastic for their delivery service. Can the food contamination be effectively cleansed off perfectly?
Because Aluminum / Glass definitely burns off any food contaminants as it reaches 1221F (Aluminum Melting point) or 2552F (Glass melting point). And IIRC, the various contaminants either float to the top, or sink to the bottom of the liquid-mix at that temperature. Which is why the purification process is relatively easy.