Direct chemical conversion of plastic waste into low-carbon oxygenates, rather than carbon dioxide, with renewable energy, is important yet challenging. Due to high C─X (X═C, H, N) bond energy, fully optimized catalysts are required to enable precise bond cleavage for boosted efficiency and selectivity. Here, adaptable and recyclable molybdenum peroxide photocatalysts that demonstrate chemical scissors for the selective conversion of polyamide to alcohols are reported. It shows that dimensionally adaptable Mo(+5.8)-(O