Characterisation of source-separated, rigid plastic waste and evaluation of recycling initiatives: Effects of product design and source-separation system
Open accessAbstract
Recycling of plastic from household waste (HHW) is crucial in the transition towards a circular plastic economy. Plastic from HHW consists of numerous immiscible polymers, product types and product designs (e.g. colour, polymer separability), which often lead to considerable physical losses during sorting, and low-quality recycled plastic. Consequently, recycling initiatives have been proposed to enhance the quantity and quality of plastic recycling from HHW. To quantify the potential effects of such initiatives, a detailed composition of plastic waste is necessary. The aim was to provide such detailed composition of Danish source-separated rigid plastic waste, including information regarding the polymer of the main product component, product type, polymer design and separability as well as colour. The potential effects on recycled quantity and quality from implementing selected recycling initiatives were quantified and recommendations provided. PET, PE and PP made up >90% of the source-separated plastic and both food- and non-food packaging existed in all three polymers. In total, 10-11% of the plastic was black, and around 44% consisted of multiple polymers, of which one-third was non-separable. Initiatives improving product design for recycling will likely result in increased quantity of recycled plastic. By effectively separating food from non-food packaging, e.g. by introducing two bins in the households or politically aligning polymers and product types (all food packaging in PET and PP, all non-food packaging in PE), 39-63% of the waste could potentially be recycled in a closed loop into food-grade quality packaging. The overall highest benefits were reached by combining initiatives.
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If multi-polymers have to be used, designing individual and separable components, such as modular design, allows components made from multi-polymers to be separated and sorted during recycling.
“If multi-polymers have to be used, Eriksen and Astrup (2019) suggested to design individual and separable components, such as modular design, in which case, components made from multi-polymers can be separated and sorted during recycling.”
From Packaging design for the circular economy: A systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as Eriksen and Astrup (2019)
The available Abstract passage (page not given) discusses separating food from non-food packaging and aligning polymers with product types. Searches for modular design, separable components, and multi-polymer packaging found no passage saying that such components can be separated and sorted during recycling. (LLM, conf=0.68)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredNowadays 10-11 % of the PET, PP and PE plastics used in packaging is black.
“However, nowadays 10-11 % of the PET, PP and PE plastics used in packaging is black (Eriksen and Astrup, 2019).”
From Packaging design for the circular economy: A systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as Eriksen and Astrup, 2019
The available Abstract passage discusses separating PET, PP and PE packaging for recycling, but gives no proportion that is black. Searches for “black” and “10–11%” found no passage addressing the claimed figure. (LLM, conf=0.70)
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BackgroundAssessment of plastic lumber production in Brazil as a substitute for natural wood
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- Authors
- Eriksen, M. K., & Astrup, T. F.
- Affiliations
- Technical University of Denmark (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Eriksen, M.K.
- Venue
- Waste Management
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 87
- Pages
- 161-172
- ISSN
- 0956-053X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2914817600
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 10.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orbit.dtu.dk
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- Locations
- Waste Management (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Technical University of Denmark, DTU Orbit (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Danish Environmental Agency
- Technical University of Denmark
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Municipal Solid Waste Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Keywords
- source separation, household waste, plastic recycling, design for recycling, food packaging, PET, polyethylene, polypropylene, black plastics, recycling programs, circular economy, closed-loop recycling
- MeSH terms
- Plastics, Polymers, Product Packaging, Recycling
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