Effect of Abiotic Treatments on Agricultural Plastic Waste: Efficiency of the Degradation Processes
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Thermal/thermomechanical treatments;
- Photo-oxidation treatments;
- Chemical/thermochemical treatments.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Polymers Used
2.2. Processing Conditions to Enhance Polymer Degradation
2.2.1. Photo-Oxidation: UV Pre-Treatments
2.2.2. E-Beam-Radiation Pre-Treatment
2.2.3. Thermochemical Pre-Treatments
2.3. Analytical Approaches to Evaluating Polymer Degradation
2.3.1. FTIR Determinations
2.3.2. Thermal Analysis
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Effects of the Different Pre-Treatments on PS Materials
3.1.1. Effects of the Photo-Oxidation Pre-Treatments
3.1.2. Effects of the Thermochemical Pre-Treatments
3.2. Effects of the Different Pre-Treatments on Polyolefin (LDPE and LLDPE) Materials
3.2.1. Effects of the Photo-Oxidation Pre-Treatments
3.2.2. Effects of the Thermochemical Pre-Treatments
3.3. Effect of the Different Pre-Treatments on PET Materials
3.3.1. Effects of the Photo-Oxidation Pre-Treatments
3.3.2. Effects of the Thermochemical Pre-Treatments
3.4. Selection of the Most Efficient and Highest-Cost–Benefit Pre-Treatment Procedure
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Type UV | W × Chamber | Irradiated Surface (m2) | Power Consumption (kW/m2 h) |
---|---|---|---|
B | 20 | 0.2479 | 0.161 |
C | 16.7 | 0.2479 | 0.135 |
Treatments | Code | Plastic Type | Conditions |
---|---|---|---|
(NH4)2S2O8 + H2SO4 | AM | LDPE, LLDPE, LLDPE + LDPE, PP, PET, PS | 6 and 12 days, 35 and 70 °C, concentrated and diluted (100% and 33%) reagents |
K2Cr2O7 + H2SO4 | CM | LDPE, LLDPE, LLDPE + LDPE, PP, PET, PS | 6 and 12 days, 35 and 70 °C, concentrated and diluted (100% and 33%) reagents |
HCl:HNO3:H2O 3:1:1, Aqua regia | AR | LDPE, LLDPE, LLDPE + LDPE, PP, PET, PS | 6 and 12 days, 35 and 70 °C, concentrated and diluted (100% and 33%) reagents |
E-Beam Pre-Treatment | Carbonyl Index | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
PS | LDPE | LLDPE | PET | |
0 kGy | 0.309 | 0.039 | 0.070 | 0.999 |
100 kGy | 0.277 | 0.063 | 0.087 | 1.002 |
200 kGy | 0.331 | 0.065 | 0.094 | 1.002 |
500 kGy | 0.373 | 0.097 | 0.125 | 1.004 |
Time consuming (T) Costs | Code | Assessment |
Low | T-L | <24 h |
Medium | T-M | 1–5 days |
High | T-H | >5 days |
Energy consuming (E) Costs | Code | Assessment |
Low | E-L | <15 kW/m2 |
Medium | E-M | 15–60 kW/m2 |
High | E-H | >60 kW/m2 |
Environmental Cost (Env) | Code | Assessment |
Low | Env-L | 0–1 |
Medium | Env-M | 2–3 |
High | Env-H | 3–4 |
Plastic Type | UV-B | UV-C | E-Beam | Thermochemical |
---|---|---|---|---|
PS | 60 h 2.5 d 9.7 kW | 45 h 1.9 d 6.1 kW | 500 kGy <1 d 3.6 kW | AM ≈ CM > AR Concentrated > diluted 12 d > 6 d 35 °C ≥ 70 °C 8 kW |
Cost-effectiveness assessment | T-M/E-L/Env-L | T-M/E-L/Env-L | T-L/E-L/Env-L | T-H/E-L/Env-H |
PET | 90 h 3.7 d 14.5 kW | 30 h 1.3 d 4.0 kW | 100–200 kGy <1 d 2.8 kW | AM ≈ CM > AR Concentrated > diluted 12 d > 6 d 70 °C ≥ 35 °C 16 kW |
Cost-effectiveness assessment | T-M/E-L/Env-L | T-M/E-L/Env-L | T-L/E-L/Env-L | T-H/E-M/Env-H |
LDPE | 500–750 h 20–31 d 80–120 kW | 750 h 31 d 101 kW | 1000 kGy <1 d 4.9 kW | AR > CM > AM Concentrated > diluted 12 d > 6 d 70 °C ≥ 35 °C 16 kW |
Cost-effectiveness assessment | T-H/E-H/Env-L | T-H/E-H/Env-L | T-L/E-L/Env-L | T-H/E-M/Env-H |
LLDPE | 500–750 h 20–31 d 80–120 kW | 750 h 31 d 101 kW | 1000 kGy <1 d 4.4 kW | CM ≈ AR > AM Concentrated > diluted 12 d > 6 d 70 °C ≥ 35 °C 16 kW |
Cost-effectiveness assessment | T-H/E-H/Env-L | T-H/E-H/Env-L | T-L/E-L/Env-L | T-H/E-M/Env-H |
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Blesa Marco, Z.E.; Sáez, J.A.; Andreu-Rodríguez, F.J.; Penalver, R.; Rodríguez, M.; Eissenberger, K.; Cinelli, P.; Bustamante, M.Á.; Moral, R. Effect of Abiotic Treatments on Agricultural Plastic Waste: Efficiency of the Degradation Processes. Polymers 2024, 16, 359. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16030359
Blesa Marco ZE, Sáez JA, Andreu-Rodríguez FJ, Penalver R, Rodríguez M, Eissenberger K, Cinelli P, Bustamante MÁ, Moral R. Effect of Abiotic Treatments on Agricultural Plastic Waste: Efficiency of the Degradation Processes. Polymers. 2024; 16(3):359. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16030359
Chicago/Turabian StyleBlesa Marco, Zbigniew Emil, José Antonio Sáez, Francisco Javier Andreu-Rodríguez, Rosa Penalver, Manuel Rodríguez, Kristina Eissenberger, Patrizia Cinelli, María Ángeles Bustamante, and Raúl Moral. 2024. "Effect of Abiotic Treatments on Agricultural Plastic Waste: Efficiency of the Degradation Processes" Polymers 16, no. 3: 359. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16030359