Recycling Polymers: The Path to a Sustainable Future
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 9182
Special Issue Editors
Interests: flexible packaging recycling; upgrading strategies for recycled mixed polymers; processing–structure–property relationship of polymer nanocomposites; biodegradable and active technologies
Interests: innovative and sustainable packaging solutions based on biopolymers; recycled polymers; active polymeric systems for food-packaging applications and nanotechnologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Currently, the growing consumption of polymer products creates large quantities of waste materials resulting in public concern in the environment and people’s life. The recycling process represents the best way to manage plastic waste in a circular economy approach and for a more sustainable future. At present, mechanical recycling is the technique most commonly used for the recovery of polymer waste, but one main critical issue consists in the progressive thermomechanical degradation of recycled material. In this regard, chemical recycling might be a complementary solution to sit alongside traditional mechanical recycling. Its main advantage lays in the possibility of giving outputs comparable to those of virgin materials. However, most chemical recycling technologies are still in the development phase—they are often cost-intensive, the input waste flows must be cleaner than previously thought, and moreover, their environmental viability has not been proven.
The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight the current research strategies and future perspectives in polymer waste recycling as a key factor to turn plastics into sustainable materials.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not be limited to) the following:
- Novel and innovative techniques in sorting plastic waste to obtain more homogeneous streams for recycling;
- Recycling of the most challenging plastic waste streams, such as flexible packaging, mixed plastics and so on;
- Quality assessment of recycled plastics;
- Efficient and effective strategies (compatibilization, nanotechnology, etc.) For upgrading the performances (processability, mechanical and functional properties, food-contact suitability, etc.) of recycled plastics;
- Strategies to tackle the hygroscopicity and odor issues of recycled polymers;
- Progress in chemical recycling techniques.
Dr. Emilia Garofalo
Prof. Dr. Loredana Incarnato
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- polymer recycling
- mechanical recycling
- chemical recycling
- compatibilization strategies
- mixed plastics waste
- flexible packaging recycling
- food-contact suitability of recycled plastics
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