| Title | Volatile organic contaminants in HDPE milk bottles along the mechanical recycling value chain, revealing origins and contamination pathways |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 25409 |
| Authors | van Velzen, EUT; Workala, Y; Teunissen, W; Smeding, I |
| Title | Volatile organic contaminants in HDPE milk bottles along the mechanical recycling value chain, revealing origins and contamination pathways |
| Year | 2024 |
| Published | |
| Abstract | To progress towards closed-loop recycling of plastic packages it is vital to understand the origin of contaminants and to develop effective mitigation strategies. High density polyethylene (HDPE) milk bottles were sampled at nine different locations along the recycling value chain and analysed with two gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy methods to study the presence of volatile organic compounds. The total approximated concentration of volatiles reduced over time from the production of the bottles up to the cross-docking facility for the separately collected lightweight packaging waste (from about 250 to 100 ppm), as alkanes and alkenes evaporate from the bottle. A clear maximum was observed in the number of identified of volatiles and in the total approximated concentration in milk bottles at the sorted HDPE product. Here contaminants peaked that originate from the milk, from other packaging components (labels, caps, inlays), from other packages and from the surrounding atmosphere. When only the milk bottles were manually separated out from this sorted product and these were mechanically recycled, flakes were obtained that contain the least amount of volatile compounds, much less than the freshly produced bottles (about 25-50 ppm). The type of volatiles present was, however, markedly different. In the freshly produced bottles alkanes, alkenes and intentionally added anti-oxidant were found, whereas in the recycled flakes mostly contaminants were found that originated from: the milk, the other packaging components, other packages and the surrounding atmosphere. Seven different contamination pathways were discerned. The gathered knowledge facilitates the future development of food-grade recycled HDPE. |
| https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.142571 |
Similar Articles
| ID | Score | Article |
|---|---|---|
7121
|
Blanco, A; Juan, RF; Istrate, R; Paredes, B; Martin-Gamboa, M; Domínguez, C; Dufour, J; García-Muñoz, RA Assessing the circularity of post-consumer HDPE milk bottles through open-loop recycling and their environmental impact(2024) | |
| 13123
|
Horodytska, O; Cabanes, A; Fullana, A Non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in recycled plastics(2020) | |
| 7009
|
Khan, MR; Sadiq, MB; Vápenka, L; Volpe, S; Rajchl, A; Torrieri, E Role of quality assessment of the recycled packaging material in determining its safety profile as food contact material(2024) | |
| 15940
|
Madden, B; Jazbec, M; Florin, N Increasing packaging grade recovery rates of plastic milk bottles in Australia: A material flow analysis approach(2023) | |
| 23356
|
Cabanes, A; Valdés, FJ; Fullana, A A review on VOCs from recycled plastics(2020) | |
| 23089
|
Radusin, T; Nilsen, J; Larsen, S; Annfinsen, S; Waag, C; Eikeland, MS; Pettersen, MK; Fredriksen, SB Use of recycled materials as mid layer in three layered structures-new possibility in design for recycling(2020) | |
| 13858
|
Singh, S; Pereira, J; Brandao, T; Oliveira, AL; Poças, F Recycling of polypropylene by supercritical carbon dioxide for extraction of contaminants from beverage cups. A comparison with polyethylene terephthalate and polylactic acid(2023)Journal Of The Science Of Food And Agriculture, 103, 3 | |
| 6441
|
Roosen, M; Harinck, L; Ugdüuler, S; De Somer, T; Hucks, AG; Belé, TGA; Buettner, A; Ragaert, K; Van Geem, KM; Dumoulin, A; De Meester, S Deodorization of post-consumer plastic waste fractions: A comparison of different washing media(2022) | |
| 19504
|
Gritsch, L; Breslmayer, G; Rainer, R; Stipanovic, H; Tischberger-Aldrian, A; Lederer, J Critical properties of plastic packaging waste for recycling: A case study on non-beverage plastic bottles in an urban MSW system in Austria(2024) | |
| 2703
|
Geueke, B; Groh, K; Muncke, J Food packaging in the circular economy: Overview of chemical safety aspects for commonly used materials(2018) |