Occurrence and distribution of microplastics in beach sediments along Phuket coastline

Akkajit, Pensiri; Tipmanee, Danai; Cherdsukjai, Phaothep; Suteerasak, Thongchai; Thongnonghin, Sudarat

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112496

Cited by 50 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…33.1% of the overall plastic sediment (Supplementary Fig. 17 ) 30 . Several common PET plastics that are available on the tourist island were chosen to convert, such as Coca-Cola bottles, McDonald’s drink caps, disposable lunch boxes, packaging bags and even some polyester clothes (Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

Gao

Chen

et al. 2022

Nat Commun

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With the aim to solve the serious problem of white plastic pollution, we report herein a low-cost process to quantitatively convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into p-xylene (PX) and ethylene glycol (EG) over modified Cu/SiO2 catalyst using methanol as both solvent and hydrogen donor. Kinetic and in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies demonstrate that the degradation of PET into PX involves tandem PET methanolysis and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) selective hydro-deoxygenation (HDO) steps with the in-situ produced H2 from methanol decomposition at 210 °C. The overall high activities are attributed to the high Cu+/Cu0 ratio derived from the dense and granular copper silicate precursor, as formed by the induction of proper NaCl addition during the hydrothermal synthesis. This hydrogen-free one-pot approach allows to directly produce gasoline fuels and antifreeze components from waste poly-ester plastic, providing a feasible solution to the plastic problem in islands.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

Gao

Chen

et al. 2022

Nat Commun

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“…A recent survey of beach sediment along the coastline of the Phuket Island showed that PET (mainly containing beverage bottles, plastic lms, and microwave packaging) accounted for ca. 33.1% of the overall plastic sediment 23 . Our method achieved conversion of this sediment with 100% PX yield at 210°C on CuNa/SiO 2 in 6 h. Every ton of plastic sediment contained 331 kg of PET, and thus, 181 kg of PX and 105 kg of ethylene glycol (EG) could be obtained via this route under optimal conditions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuel and antifreeze components

Zhao

Gao

Chen

et al. 2021

Preprint

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With the aim to solve the serious problem of white plastic pollution, we report herein a H2-free low-cost Cu/SiO2 catalyzed process to convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into p-xylene (PX) and ethylene glycol (EG) in one pot with methanol as both the solvent and hydrogen source at 210 °C. Kinetic and in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies demonstrated that the degradation of PET into dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) in methanol involved methanol dehydrogenation and ester hydrodeoxygenation reactions. When preparing the copper silicate precursor using the hydrothermal method with ammonia, NaCl was introduced to interact with the surface hydroxyl groups of SiO2, thereby forming a dense, granular copper silicate with a high Cu+/Cu0 ratio, which improved the methanol dehydrogenation and DMT hydrodeoxygenation activities. This novel H2-free process uses a low-cost Cu-based catalyst, allowing us to produce gasoline and antifreeze components from waste PET plastic in one pot, which provides a feasible solution to the plastic pollution problem in islands.

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“…38,39 Moreover, there are many geographically distributed sources of packaging PET waste (e.g., small towns, ocean islands, and coastal areas) requiring appropriate and efficient treatment. 40 Incineration and landfill should be avoided as they cause damage to the scenery, and transportation and land resources are also limited. It is more appropriate to consider a distributed-scale modular production instead of a large centralized plant to manage the waste.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seasonal variations in the waste PET supply also affect the bale PET prices significantly and could threaten the centralized plant’s normal operations . The distributed modular production has more flexibilities in construction and expansion decisions to handle the risks of disruption and time-varying supply chain conditions. , Moreover, there are many geographically distributed sources of packaging PET waste (e.g., small towns, ocean islands, and coastal areas) requiring appropriate and efficient treatment . Incineration and landfill should be avoided as they cause damage to the scenery, and transportation and land resources are also limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Environmental Benefits of Modular Microwave-Assisted Polyethylene Terephthalate Depolymerization

Luo

Selvam

Vlachos

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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The growing amount of plastic waste endangers the environment. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is among the most widespread plastics due to its extensive use in fibers and packaging. Recently, chemical recycling and upcycling approaches have been proposed to produce valuable products from bale PET feedstocks. This work performs techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental and economic performances of various technologies, including electrification via microwaves over a heterogeneous catalyst. We demonstrate that using a microwave-assisted heterogeneous glycolysis process to produce bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) could have lower production costs and emissions than the traditional dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) route due to the high reactivity and excellent reusability of the catalyst. The fast reaction rate and high selectivity render this process ideal for handling spatially distributed PET waste effectively.

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Occurrence and distribution of microplastics in beach sediments along Phuket coastline

Cited by 50 publications

References 49 publications

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components

Converting waste PET plastics into automobile fuel and antifreeze components

Economic and Environmental Benefits of Modular Microwave-Assisted Polyethylene Terephthalate Depolymerization

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