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Prospective Issues on the Reuse of Plastics at the End-of-Life Stage in Europe
Citation:
Kumar, B., N. Cano-Londono, F. Moura, Gerardo J. Ruiz-Mercado, C. Deak, AND H. Cabezas. Prospective Issues on the Reuse of Plastics at the End-of-Life Stage in Europe. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, November 13 - 18, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
Plastics are essential material of modern livelihood but created a global waste crisis and severe environmental issues. The harmful effects of plastics on soil, air, and water ecosystems include releasing toxic chemicals, spoiling oceans, and harming biodiversity. This presentation will describe the prospective issues concerned with plastics at the end-of-life (EoL), primarily in the European region. Also, this work analyzes the plastic EoL stage based on the classification of various forms of plastics with market share in Europe. This study aims to design supply chain structures across different countries that can make it possible and economically gainful to recycle more plastics at the EoL in a circular economy basis. This study could benefit policymakers, researchers, and entrepreneurs to understand various facets of plastic recycling in the European region and its current policies. Moreover, these learned lessons from other countries will support the development of efficient governmental efforts to fulfill market requirements and technological readiness of the industries related to plastics recycling in other developed countries like the U.S.
Description:
The fate of plastics is a crucial concern for the various facets of environmental well-being. This presentation reviews the prospective issues concerned with plastics at the end of life, primarily in the European region. The bibliometric analysis of the literature reveals the rising interrelation of "recycling" in academic investigations. So, there is great interest in the issue. The status based on the classification of various forms of plastics with market share in Europe has been analyzed. The growing concern related to non-valorized plastic wastes and their correlation to current import-export data has been presented, depicting severe environmental problems in the future. Plastic reuse avenues could flourish via mechanical, chemical and energy recovery processes. Hence, we further consider the various avenues governing the fate of plastics after they reach the end of life and become waste. Unfortunately, only about 20% of waste plastic enters any recycling stream in the European context. We also study the various barriers existing to the gainful and more sustainable use of plastics at the end of life, and we consider how these could be remedied. But current policies are not enough to support the market requirement and technological readiness of the industries related to plastics recycling. This study will ultimately aim to design supply chain structures and other approaches that can make it possible and economically gainful to recycle more plastics at the end of life in the manner of a circular economy. We are, therefore, looking for solutions to the problem. The study could benefit policymakers, researchers, and entrepreneurs to understand various facets of plastic recycling in the European region.