Addressing Plastic Waste Challenges in Africa: The Potential of Pyrolysis for Waste-to-Energy Conversion

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for your submission on plastic waste management in Africa. The study offers valuable insights, but I recommend addressing the following points to enhance its comprehensiveness:

 

• Clarify Recycling Methods : Clearly differentiate between mechanical and chemical recycling. Highlight the limitations of mechanical recycling due to polymer degradation and the broader applicability of chemical recycling for complex and contaminated plastics.

• Environmental Impacts : Provide a more detailed analysis of the environmental impacts of each method. Discuss the smaller carbon footprint of mechanical recycling versus the landfill reduction potential of chemical recycling and the importance of managing toxic byproducts.

• Advantages and Trade-offs : Elaborate on the main advantages of each recycling method. Emphasise mechanical recycling's cost-effectiveness and simplicity, and contrast it with chemical recycling's ability to handle diverse waste streams.

• Sustainability in Catalyst Development : Explore recent advancements in catalyst development for chemical recycling. Focus on innovations in creating sustainable, eco-friendly catalysts that operate under milder conditions. check the followings:

• https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cctc.202300909
• Catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste using activated carbon from cotton waste - ScienceDirect
• Innovative Ex-Situ catalyst bed integration for LDPE plastic Pyrolysis: A thermodynamically closed system approach - ScienceDirect
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• Relevance to Africa : Strengthen the discussion on how these advancements can be tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities within Africa’s ecological and economic contexts.

Author Response

I am writing to inform you that all the review comments and questions have been addressed comprehensively. A detailed explanation of the responses and corresponding revisions is provided in the file enclosed herewith.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper introduced Addressing Plastic Waste Challenges in Africa: The Potential of Pyrolysis for Waste-to-Energy Conversion. The author provides detailed reviews of plastic waste challenges. In general, it has the potential for publication.

1. Figure 1: It is suggested to add the useful information.

2. Tables:-The formation of all tables should revised carefully.

-there are too many cases in tables, please optimize the number of cases.

3. Section 3.1:-The activation energy has appeared many times, so it is best to explain its significance.

- Regarding the pyrolysis mechanism, which also includes many kinetic parameters, it is recommended to add relevant descriptions

4. Section 3.1: “Biomass, polymers, and municipal solid waste are frequently used as feedstocks”. The classification of this sentence is not appropriate. Biomass also belongs to polymers and is a type of municipal solid waste.

5. Table 3: “Slow pyrolysis involves heating plastic waste at a low rate, typically below 10°C/min,”. This conclusion differs significantly from some literature, please verify if it is correct.

6. Section 9: please reconsider these conclusions. For the first and second conclusions, they are deemed to be a consensus.

Author Response

I am writing to inform you that all the review comments and questions have been addressed comprehensively. A detailed explanation of the responses and corresponding revisions is provided in the file enclosed herewith.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

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