Cited by 68Polymer crystallization and propertiesWaste Management and RecyclingMicroplastics and Plastic Pollution

Towards Higher Quality of Recycled Plastics: Limitations from the Material’s Perspective

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Alassali, Ayah, Picuno, Caterina, Chong, Zhi Kai, Guo, Jinyang, Maletz, Roman, Kuchta, Kerstin·2021·Sustainability

Abstract

The increasing consumption of plastics and plastic products results in correspondingly substantial volumes of waste, which poses considerable environmental burdens. With the ongoing environmental actions, the application of circular economy on this waste stream is becoming inevitable. In this paper, the topics of plastics recycling, circular economy on plastics, and challenges to plastic waste recycling are critically reviewed. In the first part of this paper, the development of research on plastic recycling was viewed from 1950 until 2020 using the scientific database Web of Science, and 682 related studies were found and used to assess the changing research priorities along that timeline. The following sections discuss the potentials and requirements to enhance the quality of the produced recycled plastic, in connection with the factors that currently limit it. In conclusion, the quality of recycled plastic is generally determined by the homogeneity of the recovered plastic feed. There are various strategies which could be implemented to overcome the hindrances identified in the paper and to improve the quality of the recycled plastic, such as working on enhanced product designs for minimised waste heterogeneity and controlling the materials’ degree of contamination by applying advanced sorting.

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3 of the 158 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. Iammartino, N.R. New routes tackle tough plastics-recycling jobs. Chem. Eng. 1976, 83, 54.
  2. Wehrenberg, R.H. Plastics recycling-is it now commercially feasible. Mater. Eng. 1979, 89, 34-39.
  3. Hansmann, J. Environmental-protection and plastics recycling. Gummi Asbest Kunststoffe 1980, 33, 784-787.
  4. Basta, N. Plastics recycling grows up. Chem. Eng. 1987, 94, 22.
  5. Basta, N.; Johnson, E. Plastics recycling picks up momentum. Chem. Eng. 1989, 96, 30.
  6. Kline, C.H. Plastics recycling takes off in the USA. Chem. Ind. 1989, 15, 483-486.
  7. Basta, N. Plastics Recycling Gains Momentum. Chem. Eng. 1990, 97, 37.
  8. Brandrup, J. How much plastics recycling can we afford? Kunststoffe-Plast Europe 1998, 88, 1778-1780.
  9. Ahmed, N.; Khan, J.H.; Hussain, I.; Hamid, S.H. Thermal, chemical and mechanical property evaluation of recycled-reprocessed high density polyethylene. J. Polym. Mater. 1999, 16, 341-345.
  10. Maletz, R. Assessment of Optimisation Measures in the Recirculation Process of Plastic Materials. Ph.D. Thesis, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany, 2021.

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Authors
Alassali, A., Picuno, C., Chong, Z. K., Guo, J., Maletz, R., & Kuchta, K.
Affiliations
  • Hamburg University of Technology (DE)
  • Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
Corresponding author
  • Alassali, Ayah
  • Picuno, Caterina
Venue
Sustainability
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-11-30
Volume
13
Issue
23
Pages
13266
ISSN
2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3214903179
Cited by
68
References
158
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7
FWCI
2.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • tub.dok (Hamburg University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • TUHH Open Research (cc-by)
Funders
Technische Universität Hamburg
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer crystallization and properties
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
Keywords
plastic recycling, recycled plastic quality, plastic waste, circular economy, contamination

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