From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste

Enengel, Maximilian Julius; Roitner, Julia; Kandlbauer, Lisa; Lasch, Tatjana; Lehner, Markus; Sarc, Renato

doi:10.3390/recycling10040128

Open AccessArticle

From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste

by

Maximilian Julius Enengel

^1,*

,

Julia Roitner

²,

Lisa Kandlbauer

¹

,

Tatjana Lasch

³

,

Markus Lehner

³ and

Renato Sarc

¹

Chair of Waste Processing Technology and Waste Management, Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Franz-Josef-Strasse 18, 8700 Leoben, Austria

²

Institute of Materials Science and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorferstrasse 7, Object 8, 1060 Vienna, Austria

³

Chair of Process Technology and Industrial Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental and Energy Process Engineering, Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Franz-Josef-Strasse 18, 8700 Leoben, Austria

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Recycling 2025, 10(4), 128; https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling10040128

Submission received: 26 May 2025 / Revised: 17 June 2025 / Accepted: 26 June 2025 / Published: 27 June 2025

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Abstract

To meet the EU’s ambitious recycling targets, it is crucial to expand mechanical recycling to include currently underutilized waste streams, such as mixed commercial waste (MCW), which today achieves a recycling rate of only 3–5%. This study addresses the challenge of recovering polypropylene (PP) from MCW and demonstrates a viable process to do so. The goal was to develop and test industrial-scale process concepts to extract PP and transform it into high-quality recyclate. Two process concepts were developed and tested at industrial scale to extract PP as a pre-concentrate. The recovered material was further sorted, shredded, washed, and granulated, ultimately reaching End-of-Waste status. Material analysis confirmed that the resulting PP granulate meets all relevant quality standards. A total of 456.8 kg of this recyclate was processed into market-ready products. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first demonstration of plastic products made entirely from MCW. By covering the full value chain—from waste to final product—this study highlights a viable and scalable approach for integrating complex waste streams into high-quality material cycles, thereby contributing to circular economy strategies.

Keywords: mechanical recycling; plastic recycling; mixed waste recycling; product cycle; End of Waste

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MDPI and ACS Style

Enengel, M.J.; Roitner, J.; Kandlbauer, L.; Lasch, T.; Lehner, M.; Sarc, R. From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste. Recycling 2025, 10, 128. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling10040128

AMA Style

Enengel MJ, Roitner J, Kandlbauer L, Lasch T, Lehner M, Sarc R. From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste. Recycling. 2025; 10(4):128. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling10040128

Chicago/Turabian Style

Enengel, Maximilian Julius, Julia Roitner, Lisa Kandlbauer, Tatjana Lasch, Markus Lehner, and Renato Sarc. 2025. "From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste" Recycling 10, no. 4: 128. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling10040128

APA Style

Enengel, M. J., Roitner, J., Kandlbauer, L., Lasch, T., Lehner, M., & Sarc, R. (2025). From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste. Recycling, 10(4), 128. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling10040128

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From Waste to Product: New Circularity by Recovering Polypropylene from Mixed Commercial Waste

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