Challenges and Solutions for Plastic Packaging in a Circular Economy

Schmidt, Jannick Højrup; Auer, Maximilian; Moesslein, Jochen; Wendler, Pascal; Wiethoff, Stefan; Lang‐Koetz, Claus; Woidasky, Jörg

doi:10.1002/cite.202100110

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…PolySecure [ 46 ] offers a commercial proprietary solution for sorting plastics based on fluorescent particles. Schmidt et al [ 47 ] investigated the sorting efficiencies of labels and PE-HD bottles using a printed PolySecure tracer in a concentration of 100–200 µg/cm², which were identified with industrial NIR sorters. Moreover, the PolySecure technology is involved in several national and international projects related to plastics recycling.…”

Section: Tracking Solutions For Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information-Based Plastic Material Tracking for Circular Economy—A Review

Rumetshofer

Fischer

2023

Polymers

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At the moment, it looks like the plastics recycling industry is skimming only low-hanging fruits of its business. To reach intended targets, a greater effort and disruptive innovations are necessary. Physical- or digital-information-based solutions for tracking plastic material can support the circular economy and help to overcome hurdles along the value chain. In this paper, the scientific literature and initiatives in four different technology areas for information-based tracking solutions are reviewed and analyzed. Physical markers can improve sorting efficiencies on short notice but adhere some technical difficulties. Blockchain as a new concept promises high transparency and security, with the drawbacks of energy-intense verification and technical uncertainties. As a third group, the digital product passport claims a combination of physical and digital solutions with open questions on data ownership. The fourth and last group includes standards and certification systems that aim for maximum consensus with slow market implementation. To enable an integrated circular economy of plastics, plastic material tracking solutions must experience broad acceptance by all players along the value chain in the plastics industry and they should additionally be supported by society.

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Section: Tracking Solutions For Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information-Based Plastic Material Tracking for Circular Economy—A Review

Rumetshofer

Fischer

2023

Polymers

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“…Beyond the practical aspects of sorting plastic waste via photoluminescent labeling, the feasibility of industrial-scale implementation and the resulting economical/environmental benefits must also be considered. Several articles by Woidasky and Lang-Koetz et al aim to address some of these important questions, − specifically in the context of the German recycling sector where very high recycling targets are legislated (63% as of 2022) . However, as photoluminescence-based sorting is still a new pilot-scale technology, most of their data can only be taken as indicative at this stage.…”

Section: Practical Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Throughout their assessments, Woidasky and Lang-Koetz et al use two general scenarios, "light" and "complete." 83 The "complete" case considers photoluminescent labeling as an entirely new one-step system of sorting plastic waste�an alternative to the current flotation or NIR detection methods. This offers the greatest carbon saving and environmental benefit, with extensive fractionation of the waste stream possible and high reliability.…”

Section: Implementation and Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enabling the Polymer Circular Economy: Innovations in Photoluminescent Labeling of Plastic Waste for Enhanced Sorting

Larder

Hatton

2022

ACS Polym. Au

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It is widely accepted that moving from a linear to circular economy for plastics will be beneficial to reduce plastic pollution in our environment and to prevent loss of material value. However, challenges within the sorting of plastic waste often lead to contaminated waste streams that can devalue recyclates and hinder reprocessing. Therefore, the improvement of the sorting of plastic waste can lead to dramatic improvements in recyclate quality and enable circularity for plastics. Here, we discuss current sorting methods for plastic waste and review labeling techniques to enable enhanced sorting of plastic recyclates. Photoluminescent-based labeling is discussed in detail, including UV–vis organic and inorganic photoluminescent markers, infrared up-conversion, and X-ray fluorescent markers. Methods of incorporating labels within packaging, such as extrusion, surface coatings, and incorporation within external labels are also discussed. Additionally, we highlight some practical models for implementing some of the sorting techniques and provide an outlook for this growing field of research.

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“…To partly resolve this issue, it is also possible to incorporate small-molecule dyes or fluorophores into the material as a somewhat more specific label, which could theoretically be more precise than an NIR fingerprint alone. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] However, the simple addition of dyes or other tracers, carries little information content that can be coded to a particular production batch.…”

Section: Spectroscopic Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%