Food packaging directly influences consumers’ behavioral tendencies when implementing waste sorting. This study conducted a survey in China, establishing antecedent variables—consumers’ expectations and perceived quality of food pac...
Plastic product consumption and disposal are widespread. Given that these products are derived from crude oil, it is critical to reduce their consumption and effectively recycle plastic waste as recycled resources to achieve a low-carbon society. Jap...
The first step in reintroducing plastic waste into the recycling cycle is to use material recovery facilities (MRFs). However, while the composition and types of plastic waste are changing over time, the layout of MRFs does not always adapt to this c...
Household waste sorting at the source is an essential part of the waste management system in many countries. Correct sorting of this waste, including food packaging waste, is cost-effective, it facilitates the recycling process and enhances the quali...
It is widely acknowledged that environmental impacts from packaging waste depend on how consumers sort this waste fraction. In this research, “design for sustainable behavior” (DfSB) strategies are used to improve a cream packaging design...
Despite extensive sorting, packaging waste often contains a mixture of different materials that make high-quality recycling difficult, especially in the case of flexible packaging. This is partly due to the widespread use of multi-layer laminates and...
Challenges associated with plastic waste management range from littering to high collection costs to low recycling rates. Effective collection of plastics is obviously an important step in the management of plastic waste and has an impact on recyclin...
Packaging waste correct sorting hugely impacts fiber-based packaging circularity. Currently, this is more crucial than ever, also due to the increased market share of fiber-based packaging. This study evaluated the relationship between the aesthetic...
Food packaging waste is a valuable resource for material recovery, if it is properly separated and sorted by consumers. The packaging itself may have the potential to assist consumer sorting by, for example, communicating a correct sorting practice....
In contrast to packaging, non-packaging plastics remain largely untargeted by EU regulations, despite their comprising over 60% of primary plastics in the EU 27 + 3 in 2022. This results in lower separate collection and recycling rates as well as few...
The composition of plastic and multilayer packaging waste was assessed in the mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) streams of the Kaunas (Lithuania), Daugavpils (Latvia) and Tallinn (Estonia) municipalities. For the analysis of samples in the mixed MSW...
The need for increased recycling of plastic packaging waste (PPW) is apparent from a legal and waste management perspective and, therefore, further waste streams need to be investigated in detail in terms of their recycling potential. Polyethylene te...
Proper waste sorting is crucial for biodegradable plastics (BDPs) recycling, whose global production is increasing dynamically. BDPs can be sorted using near-infrared (NIR) sorting, but little research is available about the effect of surface contami...
An innovative route for plastics recycling is proposed, based on a combination of a logarithmic sorting process and colour plus high-resolution near-infrared (NIR) sensors. Although counterintuitive, it is shown that such a technology could sort clea...
The purpose of this study was to widen the knowledge about the recycling behaviour of consumers in order to understand their motivations related to the separate collection of household waste. This work encompasses a segmentation analysis revealing di...
The management of plastic packaging waste is advancing quickly, and new strategies are being implemented worldwide for better resource recovery. To assess the environmental benefits of new ways of handling plastic packaging waste, we need to first ev...
The present work studies, through an online survey, the recycling behaviours of a representative sample of Italian end users, in connection with the effectiveness of on-pack recycling indications of different packed materials. The study has a special...
Confronted with serious environmental problems caused by the growing mountains of plastic packaging waste, the prevention and control of plastic waste has become a major concern for most countries. In addition to the recycling of plastic wastes, desi...
This work presents a hand sorting trial of Austrian plastic packaging, which showed that according to an extrapolation of the 170,000 t separately collected waste collected in Austria, 30 wt% are flexible 2D plastic packaging. Further, the applicatio...
Small plastic packaging films make up a quarter of all packaging waste generated annually in Austria. As many plastic packaging films are multilayered to give barrier properties and strength, this fraction is considered hardly recyclable and recovere...
Food loss and waste have been identified as significant contributors to existing environmental challenges. Previous studies have extensively quantified losses and waste throughout the value chain. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the i...
Sensor-based and robot sorting are key technologies in the extended value chain of many products such as packaging waste (glass, plastics) or building materials since these processes are significant contributors in reaching the EU recycling goals. He...
Sorting multilayer packaging is still a major challenge in the recycling of post-consumer plastic waste. In a 2019 Germany-wide field study with 248 participants, lightweight packaging (LWP) was randomly selected and analyzed by infrared spectrometry...
While taking care of the population’s health, hospitals generate mountains of waste, which in turn causes a hazard to the environment of the population. The operating room is responsible for a disproportionately big amount of hospital waste. This res...
The chemical recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) –PET– fractions, derived from actual household packaging waste streams, using solvolysis, was investigated. This recycling strategy was applied after a previous on-line automatic iden...
The transition towards a circular economy, as outlined in the European Union’s Green Deal, requires the development of industries dedicated to recycling and material recovery. Within this context, the recycling of plastic and packaging waste is...
Glass in mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) is often lost for recycling. Glass recovery from incineration bottom ash (IBA) after MSW incineration (MSWI) is technically feasible by sensor-based sorting, but rarely applied. Especially IBAs from fluidize...
The adoption of the PPWR by the Council of the European Union (EU/2025/40) in 2025 intensifies the regulatory pressure on packaging manufacturers and food producers. This necessitates their adaptation of packaging to the new standards and selection o...
Multilayer flexible packaging wastes (MFPWs) consist of complex materials composed of multiple plastic films, which are often laminated with aluminum foil, and they constitute a large portion of packaging waste. The use of several polymeric layers is...
Understanding the composition of disposed municipal solid waste (MSW) and recyclables can lead to better waste management. New York State (United States) has never had a state-wide waste characterization sorting program. In 2021, sampling was conduct...
With the deepening understanding of the nutritional value of oysters by consumers, oysters as high-quality seafood are gradually entering the market. Raw edible oyster production lines mainly rely on manual sorting and packaging, which hinders the im...
This work covers a lifecycle assessment of monolayer and multilayer films to quantify the environmental impacts of changing the management of plastic film waste. This lifecycle assessment offers the possibility of quantifying the environmental impact...
While multilayer plastic is difficult for recycling, innovative technologies and tactics are being developed to improve the process. New technologies in chemical recycling show promising results; however, the net improvement brought to the environmen...
Current understanding of food waste quantities in the Brazilian retail sector is limited. In order to develop efficient measures for food waste prevention and valorisation, reliable data on waste generation and composition are necessary. In this stud...
Vacuoles are one of the most prominent organelles in plant cells, and they play various important roles, such as degradation of waste materials, storage of ions and metabolites, and maintaining turgor. During the past two decades, numerous advances h...
The current Dutch recycling value chain for plastic packaging waste (PPW) has not reached its full circularity potential, as is apparent from two Circular Performance Indicators (CPIs): net packaging recycling rate and average polymer purity of the r...
Tourism in Tunisia generates large amounts of solid waste, especially during the summer, and doubles the amount in most big tourism cities like Hammamet, which makes its management more complicated. Municipalities lack the financial means to ensure s...
As awareness of environmental issues deepens and the demand for sustainability grows among societies, businesses, and consumers, minimizing the environmental impact of food packaging has become increasingly important. Bioplastics offer a promising so...
The depletion of fossil resources and the growing demand for plastic waste reduction has put industries and academic researchers under pressure to develop increasingly sustainable packaging solutions that are both functional and circularly designed....
The properties of recycled post-consumer rigid polyethylene packaging waste were studied, using sorted waste washed in the laboratory with water alone and with added detergent, and compared with large-scale high-intensity washed flakes. The washed fl...
The intention of this paper is to learn more about why consumers choose whether or not to recycle, with special attention given to the functions of the packaging itself, in order to provide suggestions for improvements in packaging design, recycling...
The primary data of micro- and macroplastics in the aquatic environment of Lake Markakol, located in the mountainous area of East Kazakhstan, are presented. The determination of micro- and macroplastics in water is based on sieving, drying, liquid ox...
This Special Issue on integrated waste management explores innovative approaches and multifaceted strategies aimed at addressing the critical challenges facing modern waste management systems. The featured eight original research articles cover diver...
One of the significant problems in our society is the handling and processing of the vast amount of waste produced by households and industrial processes. Nowadays, packaging material regulations are constantly changing, which can significantly impac...
In light of the circular economy gaining momentum, plastics recycling is regarded as a key solution to keep materials in the loop. Continuous efforts are needed to achieve the packaging waste recycling targets set by the European Union. Hence, this w...
Waste recycling is critical for the development of smart cities. Local authorities are responsible for the disposal of waste plastics, but the extent of material recycling is insufficient, and much of the waste generated is incinerated. This conflict...
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) based packaging films mostly end up in landfill after single-use as they are not commonly recycled due to their flexible nature, low strength and low cost. Additionally, the necessity to separate and sort different pla...
Fourth-range products are those types of fresh fruit and vegetables that are ready for raw consumption or after cooking, and belong to organic or integrated cultivations. These products are subject to mild post-harvesting processing procedures (selec...
In order to shift to a circular plastics economy, high quality recyclates are required to effectively substitute virgin materials. Current approaches to empirically quantify the substitutability for recyclates are mainly limited by the abundance of v...
The aim of this paper is for the production of oils processed in refineries to come from the pyrolysis of real waste from the high plastic content rejected by the recycling industry of the Basque Country (Spain). Concretely, the rejected waste stream...
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