Degradation of excavated polyethylene and polypropylene waste from landfill

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dc.contributor.authorCanopoli, Luisa
dc.contributor.authorCoulon, Frederic
dc.contributor.authorWagland, Stuart T.
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-27T09:57:10Z
dc.date.available2019-09-27T09:57:10Z
dc.date.issued2019-08-26
dc.description.abstractIn 2016, it was estimated that 7.4 million tonnes of plastic waste have been disposed in landfill in Europe. This waste represents an important opportunity for resource recovery through enhanced landfill mining consistent with recent Circular Economy initiatives. However, a recent review found a lack of data describing the degradation of excavated plastic waste and the potential impact on recycling products such as pyrolysis oil. In this study, the physicochemical characteristics of the main plastic types found in landfills and their implications for recovery and recycling were investigated using a combination of scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Loss of gloss was visually detected for the buried plastic waste samples (polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP)) compared to fresh plastic samples. The SEM-EDS analysis further showed that oxygen was the main element related to the plastic surface alteration. The carbonyl index (CI) of plastic samples buried for >10 years was between 1.5 and 2 times higher than <10 years and fresh materials. Similarly, the degree crystallinity of the old samples (>10 years) was 2 times higher than the fresh and < 10 years samples. Based on these findings, tertiary recycling, such as pyrolysis, seems to be a convenient route for upcycling of recovered plastics from municipal solid waste landfills.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationCanopoli L, Coulon F, Wagland ST. (2019) Degradation of excavated polyethylene and polypropylene waste from landfill. Science of the Total Environment, Volume 698, January 2019, Article number 134125en_UK
dc.identifier.cris24333376
dc.identifier.issn0048-9697
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134125
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/14572
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectEnhanced landfill miningen_UK
dc.subjectPlastic recoveryen_UK
dc.subjectExcavated plasticen_UK
dc.subjectPlastic degradationen_UK
dc.titleDegradation of excavated polyethylene and polypropylene waste from landfillen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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