Alternative Building Blocks and New Recycling Routes for Polymers: Challenges for Circular Economy and Triggers for Innovations

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Background

Thermoplastic polymers are omnipresent all over the world, often with short life durations, as for packaging applications. According to the European Commission, 50 million tonnes of plastics have been produced in 2020 whilst at the same time up to 25 million tonnes of plastic waste went into landfill and 23 million tonnes of waste are estimated to go into rivers, lakes and oceans (MacLead et al., 2021). This shows challenges for waste, pollution and alternative plastic production to shift this trend and huge problems to be solved.

Over 90% of polymers are synthesised from fossil feedstock (oil or natural gas) but alternative building blocks (renewable bio-based feedstock or products of recycling processes for example) can be used for their synthesis. Among innovations, we find innovations to produce alternative building blocks as well as process innovations in recycling technologies for regeneration and valorization of polymer wastes.

Mechanical recycling by melt processing, that can be carried out in ever existing industrial plants, offers lots of technological, environmental, and economical interests for a rapid growth of thermoplastic polymer recycling. It can be associated with decontamination of the wastes either before, after or during melt processing.

Mechanical recycling enables to value not only neat polymers but also polymer blends, that might originate from wastes difficult to separate, such as reinforced or multilayered polymer materials. In this perspective, compatibilization of the polymer blends can be obtained by reactive or non-reactive extrusion. Besides, the possibility to use current industrial plants, that can be adapted, is an important factor for mechanical recycling with significant economic outcomes. Chemical recycling is another interesting way for recovery of building blocks and may open a wide range of applications. Moreover, Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) suggest environmental benefits of recycling, especially mechanical recycling in comparison with other end-of-life scenarii.

The first objective of this Research Topic is to show not only the technological, but also socio-economical and environmental interests of the synthesis of thermoplastic polymers commonly encountered on the market, PE, PP and their copolymers, PS, PET, PA with alternative building blocks (bio-based or products of recycling processes for example) as well as their recycling, with examples of recycling routes describing both melt processing, decontamination, formulation or depolymerisation. Works describing routes for the synthesis and recycling of emerging bio-sourced polymers such as PLA, PHA, PBS, PBSA are also welcome. The environmental and socio-economical challenges of using alternative building blocks as well as recycling can be either described with a Life Cycle Analyses (LCA), Life Cycle Cost for example, or analysed with patents, innovations among other indicators.

The second objective is to highlight the added value of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, to discuss and analyse relevant trajectories for polymer recycling, regarding not only materials, processes but also environmental and economical aspects. In short, empirical findings describing technological innovations and processs innovations are appreciated and diverse backgrounds for analysing and describing data are considered here.

The scope of this Research Topic focuses on the synthesis with alternative building blocks, the recycling (by melt processing, depolymerisation) of thermoplastic polymers such as PE, PP and their copolymers, PS, PET, PA, PLA, PHA, PBS, PBSA & bio-sourced polyesters, as well as the recycling of some of their blends such as blends made of PP/PE and their copolymers. Studies carried out on virgin neat polymers and blends representative of questions posed by polymer recycling are welcome.

The scope includes work devoted to the decontamination of the thermoplastic polymers either before, after or during melt processing, with special interest for de-pollution in the melt by super critical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) or other solvents (water…). A focus on circular economy is welcome as well an emphasis on environmental issue when innovations are observed and measured.
We are also considering and encouraging methods relying on Life Cycle Analysis, Life Cycle Costs as well as multidisciplinary work with human sciences such as economics, management, law and sociological background, among others.

Research papers as well as reviews are expected.

Keywords: alternative building blocks, recycling, decontamination, thermoplastic polymers, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), innovations, technological trajectories, patents, environmental degradation

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