Estimates of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) load to the Hudson river, PCB transport and fate and the total mass and spatial distribution of sediment-bound PCBs in the Hudson River Estuary vary significantly.

As of January 01, 2021, stricter regulations apply to plastic waste exports from the EU. Unsorted or contaminated plastic mixtures may no longer be traded inter-nationally. The reason for this is that this waste is difficult to recycle and thus often ends up illegally in the environment. Therefore, only clean and well-sorted plastic waste may be traded.

Personal protective equipment (PPE), e.g. the face covering to avoid the COVID-19, is spread in public and private spaces. Since the pandemics, the amount of PPE production has increased, likewise the amount disposed in the environment, especially in the ocean and the communities around.

The Circular Plastic Alliance Declaration of the European Commission targets the us-age of 10 million tons of recycled plastic per year into new plastic products in Europe by 2025 (European Commission 9/20/2019). To assist this objective this work focuses on the improvement of mechanical sorting of polyethylene (PE).

The rising success of the plastics recycling sector has turned an environmental hazard – plastic waste – into a valuable resource. The constantly growing industry comes with increasing demands in terms of technology and quality, but also offers enormous potential for those who are ready to strike new paths. ANDRITZ has combined the latest shredder technology from its recently launched ADuro product line with an all-in-one solution for separating, washing and dewatering – the CENSOR ACZ decanter centrifuge. This powerful pair is perfect for processing various types of plastic waste, especially from household waste collection.

The project “Tex2Mat” was a cooperation between companies working in the field of recycling or textiles and universities specializing in the field of polymer engineering and recycling. There were two polymers (PET and PA) examined and the whole project divided into two subprojects.

The exploitation of plastics gains more importance over time. In this con-text, material recycling is especially focused on packaging plastics. A further waste stream that contains a significant amount of plastics is mixed commercial solid waste. To assess the potential of plastics for recycling and energy recovery from these waste stream large-scale experiments were conducted. The potential of mechanical pre-processing with the aim of generating a 3D-plastics pre-concentrate was assessed. The focus of these investigations was put on the relevance of the screening stage and its influence on down-stream material processing via ballistic separation and sensor-based sorting. Results demonstrate not only that the screening of the waste leads to enrichment of plastics in coarse particle size ranges (especially > 80 mm) and transfer of contaminants, organics and minerals to fine fractions (especially < 10 mm), but also that sensor-based sorting performance can be significantly enhanced due to cleaning effects on plastics, induced by the material circulation and friction in a drum screen.

The reliable estimates are essential to developing measures to reduce plastic pollution and to make successes measurable and visible. For this reason, the cross-border project "PlasticFreeDanube" (PFD), which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of Interreg Slovakia-Austria, aims to gain new knowledge on this topic for the Danube.

Recyclability and sustainability are conflicts in multilayer flexible food packaging, where material combinations (polymers, paper, aluminium) intend functionality. To increase the sustainability of multilayer flexible packaging through recyclable solutions, systemic and technical obstacles need to be considered. A holistic redesign approach, addressing food protection and the packaging’s end of life (collection, sorting, recycling) is essential to improve these already sustainable packaging solutions. To this, current collective research projects at the University of Applied Sciences, aim to closely link science and industry, promote research in the field of sustainable packaging and provide solutions to recycling goals of the European Union.

In Germany, about 133 million Euro are spent annually for New Year’s Eve fireworks, which result in 38,000 to 49,000 Mg of total firework mass. By a com-bination of desk research with official fireworks approval statistics, a customer survey, dismantling experiments with fireworks debris and with packaging characterisation, the total nationwide polymer emission was estimated to be 3,088 Mg. Out of this total mass, a projected polymer debris mass of 534 Mg was identified, and about 270 Mg of polymer packaging material. The remaining 2283 Mg of polymer mass are parts that eventually may remain at the launching site.

Sewage sludge char was used as the catalyst to realize the selective production of aromatics in the pyrolysis of waste mixed plastics.

A study of scientists from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) presents a global material flow analysis of synthetic microfiber release from apparel washing covering the period from 1950 to 2016, i.e. from the beginning of mass production of synthetic fibers to the present.

Report outlines major global efforts, investments and commitments to end plastic waste in the environment and contributing to a circular economy.