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Chemosphere

Title:		Tracing the origin of VOCs in post-consumer plastic film bales
Author(s):		Roosen M; Van Laere T; Decottignies V; Morel L; Schnitzler JL; Schneider J; Schlummer M; Lase IS; Dumoulin A; De Meester S;
Address:		"Laboratory for Circular Process Engineering (LCPE), Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, B-8500, Kortrijk, Belgium. SUEZ, CIRSEE, Rue du President Wilson 38, 78230, Le Pecq, France. Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Process Development for Polymer Recycling, Giggenhauser Strasse 35, 85354, Freising, Germany. Laboratory for Circular Process Engineering (LCPE), Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, B-8500, Kortrijk, Belgium. Electronic address: steven.demeester@ugent.be"
Journal Title:		Chemosphere
Year:		2023
Volume:		20230301
Issue:
Page Number:		138281 -
DOI:		10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138281
ISSN/ISBN:		1879-1298 (Electronic) 0045-6535 (Print) 0045-6535 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including odors, are still a key issue in plastic recycling, especially in case of flexible packaging. Therefore, this study presents a detailed qualitative and quantitative VOC analysis by applying gas chromatography on 17 categories of flexible plastic packaging that are manually sorted from bales of post-consumer flexible packaging (e.g., beverage shrink wrap, packaging for frozen food, packaging for dairy products, etc.). A total of 203 VOCs are identified on packaging used for food products, while only 142 VOCs are identified on packaging used for non-food products. Especially, more oxygenated compounds (e.g., fatty acids, esters, aldehydes) are identified on food packaging. With more than 65 VOCs, the highest number of VOCs is identified on packaging used for chilled convenience food and ready meals. The total concentration of 21 selected VOCs was also higher on packaging used for food products (totally 9187 mug/kg plastic) compared to packaging used for non-food packaging (totally 3741 mug/kg plastic). Hence, advanced sorting of household plastic packaging waste, e.g., via tracer-based sorting or watermarking, could open the door towards sorting on other properties than polymer type, such as mono- versus multi-material packaging, food versus non-food packaging or even their VOC profile, which might allow for tailoring washing procedures. Potential scenarios showed that sorting the categories with the lowest VOC load, which corresponds to half of the total mass of flexible packaging, could result in a VOC reduction of 56%. By producing less contaminated plastic film fractions and by tailoring washing processes recycled plastics can ultimately be used in a broader market segment"
Keywords:		*Plastics/chemistry *Volatile Organic Compounds Polymers Product Packaging Food Packaging Recycling Gas chromatography Plastics films Sorting Volatile organic compounds;
Notes:		"MedlineRoosen, Martijn Van Laere, Tine Decottignies, Virginie Morel, Ludivine Schnitzler, Jean-Luc Schneider, Johannes Schlummer, Martin Lase, Irdanto Saputra Dumoulin, Ann De Meester, Steven eng England 2023/03/04 Chemosphere. 2023 May; 324:138281. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138281. Epub 2023 Mar 1"