| Title |
Identification of the recyclable content of polyethylene films in the Upper Austrian waste streams |
| ID_Doc |
15915 |
| Authors |
Langwieser, J; Zeilerbauer, L; Fischer, J |
| Title |
Identification of the recyclable content of polyethylene films in the Upper Austrian waste streams |
| Year |
2024 |
| Published |
International Journal Of Sustainable Engineering, 17, 1 |
| DOI |
10.1080/19397038.2024.2373225 |
| Abstract |
The European Union (EU) has set ambitious recycling targets for plastic packaging waste of 50% and 55% by the end of 2025 and 2030, respectively. Austria's recycling rate is currently below 30%, necessitating significant improvements in collection, sorting, and recycling efficiencies. To enhance the sorting efficiency, understanding the composition and condition of waste is crucial. Our study focuses on the identification of the recyclable content of polyethylene (PE) films in Upper Austrian waste streams for plastics recycling. This involved the manual sorting of three waste streams through various steps. As a result, the occurrences of monolayer PE films in the post-consumer waste streams were obtained. Based on the apprehended data, a circularity indicator (CI), which is a rough estimation of material circularity that takes into account the losses in both quantity and quality when reprocessing materials, together with a sensitivity analysis was calculated for Austria, which revealed that reducing demand and increasing the amount of recycled materials is more beneficial to the CI than improving energy efficiency. This research fills knowledge gaps on the availability of PE film waste in the various waste streams and can be used as a basis for enhancing the recycling rate in PE film recycling. |
| Author Keywords |
Recycling potential; waste management; polyethylene films; sorting |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) |
| EID |
WOS:001259845000001 |
| WoS Category |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
| Research Area |
Science & Technology - Other Topics |
| PDF |
https://doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2024.2373225
|