Mechanical recycling of PVC plastic waste streams from cable industry: A case study

Multilevel statistical entropy analysis (SEA) is a method that has been recently proposed to evaluate circular economy strategies on the material, component and product levels to identify critical stages of resource and functionality losses. However, the comparison of technological alternatives may be difficult, and equal entropies do not necessarily correspond with equal recyclability. A coupling with energy consumption aspects is strongly recommended but largely lacking. The aim of this paper is to improve the multilevel SEA method to reliably assess the recyclability of plastics. Therefore, the multilevel SEA method is first applied to a conceptual case study of a fictitious bag filled with plastics, and the possibilities and limitations of the method are highlighted. Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the method with the computation of the relative decomposition energies of components and products. Finally, two recyclability metrics are proposed. A plastic waste collection bag filled with plastic bottles is used as a case study to illustrate the potential of the developed extended multilevel SEA method. The proposed extension allows us to estimate the recyclability of plastics. In future work, this method will be refined and other potential extensions will be studied together with applications to real-life plastic products and plastic waste streams.

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Quantifying the Separation Complexity of Mixed Plastic Waste Streams with Statistical Entropy: A Plastic Packaging Waste Case Study in Belgium

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering ◽

10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c02404 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Philippe Nimmegeers ◽

Pieter Billen

Keyword(s):

Plastic Waste ◽

Statistical Entropy ◽

Waste Streams ◽

Plastic Packaging ◽

Packaging Waste

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Synergistic Effects of CO2 on Complete Thermal Degradation of Plastic Waste Mixture through a Catalytic Pyrolysis Platform: A Case Study of Disposable Diaper

Journal of Hazardous Materials ◽

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126537 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 126537

Author(s):

Dohee Kwon ◽

Sungyup Jung ◽

Kun-Yi Andrew Lin ◽

Yiu Fai Tsang ◽

Young-Kwon Park ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Degradation ◽

Catalytic Pyrolysis ◽

Synergistic Effects ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Disposable Diaper ◽

Waste Mixture

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Combustibles alternativos para motores de combustión interna obtenidos a partir de residuos plásticos

Revista de Energía Química y Física ◽

10.35429/jcpe.2019.20.6.22.29 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 22-29

Author(s):

José Manuel Riesco-Ávila ◽

David Alejandro Rodríguez-Valderrama ◽

Diana Marcela Pardo-Cely ◽

Francisco Elizalde- Blancas

Keyword(s):

High Density Polyethylene ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Low Density Polyethylene ◽

Distillation Process ◽

Pyrolysis Process ◽

Mechanical Recycling ◽

Heavy Hydrocarbons ◽

Plastic Materials ◽

Rapid Pyrolysis

Of the different methods for recycling plastic, pyrolysis offers the possibility to overcome the limitations of mechanical recycling, which requires large amounts of clean, separate and homogeneous plastic waste to ensure the quality of the final product. Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of plastic materials by thermal degradation in the absence of oxygen. The plastic waste is introduced into a chamber, where it is subjected to high temperatures, and the gases generated are condensed in order to obtain a distillate hydrocarbon. This paper presents the results obtained from the pyrolysis of plastic waste mixtures of polypropylene, high density polyethylene, and low density polyethylene. In a first stage, the plastic waste is subjected to a rapid pyrolysis process at temperatures of 440-450 °C, obtaining a mixture of heavy hydrocarbons. Subsequently, these hydrocarbons are subjected to a distillation process, first at a temperature of 180 °C, where a hydrocarbon with properties similar to those of gasoline is obtained, and then at a temperature of 360 °C, yielding a hydrocarbon with properties similar to those of diesel.

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Places and Causes of Mismanaged Plastic Materials in the Life Cycle of Flexible Plastic Packaging Based on Mechanical Recycling Context

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.888.129 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 888 ◽

pp. 129-138

Author(s):

Munzir Hadengganan ◽

Djoko Sihono Gabriel

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Plastic Material ◽

Life Cycles ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Production Cycle ◽

Mechanical Recycling ◽

Rigid Plastic ◽

Plastic Packaging ◽

Quality Degradation ◽

Plastic Materials

Plastic waste has become a big issue in the world for its large amount of plastic waste in the sea. Most of the plastic waste is plastic packaging which consists of flexible and rigid plastic packaging. This research discusses flexible plastic packaging. Until now, most researches on the loss of plastic materials discuss how to manage plastic waste disposal once it has been used by community: only a few discuss production cycle: while none of them discusses flexible plastic packaging area. This research aims to examine the number of mismanaged materials throughout flexible plastic packaging life cycle using a combination of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Based on the literature review, interviews and observations conducted by the author to all stakeholders in the life cycle of flexible plastic packaging, mismanagement of plastic material occurred in each cycle, mostly caused by quality degradation of flexible plastic that could cause plastic waste was not acceptable in the mechanical recycle. The results of this study show that: (1) mismanaged material occurred in all cycles throughout the life cycles of flexible plastic packaging, (2) quality degradation is the main caused of mismanaged material in several cycles, and (3) the mismanaged materials in the life cycle of flexible plastic packaging were 98.29%.

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