A review on value-addition to plastic waste towards achieving a circular economy

Authors: KUMAR, MANISH - Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR); BHUJBAL, SACHIN KRUSHNA - Indian Institute Of Technology; SRIDHARAN, SRINIDHI - Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR); KOHLI, KIRTIKA - Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR); PRAJAPATI, RAVINDRA - University Of Illinois; Sharma, Brajendra - Bk; SAWARKAR, ANKUSH - Visvesvaraya National Institute Of Technology (VNIT); ABHISHEK, KUMAR - Government Of Bihar; BOLAN, SHIV - University Of Western Australia; GHOSH, POOJA - Indian Institute Of Technology; SINGH, LAL - Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR); KIRKHAM, M.B. - Kansas State University; PANDEY, ASHOK - Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR); RINKLEBE, JORG - University Of Wuppertal; BOLAN, NANTHI - The University Of Western Australia

Submitted to: Science of the Total Environment
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/18/2024
Publication Date: 2/21/2024
Citation: Kumar, M., Bhujbal, S., Sridharan, S., Kohli, K., Prajapati, R., Sharma, B.K., Sawarkar, A.D., Abhishek, K., Bolan, S., Ghosh, P., Singh, L., Kirkham, M., Pandey, A., Rinklebe, J., Bolan, N.S. 2024. A review on value-addition to plastic waste towards achieving a circular economy. Science of the Total Environment. 921:171106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171106.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171106

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Plastic and mixed plastic waste (PW) has received increased worldwide attention, owing to the huge rate of production, high persistency in the environment, and unsustainable waste management practices. PWs typically end up in incinerators or landfills, generating environmental pollution. Globally, it is projected that on-going plastic production and management practices will lead to 12,000 million metric tons (Mt) of PWs in landfills by 2050. Therefore, sustainable PW management approaches are imperative to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. Recycling of the PW is a conventional approach to minimize the environmental impact to some degree. However, most recycling approaches encounter several problems, such as high recycling cost, co-contamination, and reduced quality of the products. Therefore, a more sustainable opportunity is to cycle the PW to generate fuel and value-added chemicals. In this context, the current review delivers a comprehensive discussion on advanced thermochemical technologies, such as pyrolysis, gasification, carbonization, and photocatalysis, which are available for management and valorization of the plastic and mixed PWs to generate energy and produce industrial chemicals. Furthermore, this review also provides an in-depth discussion concerning the environmental impacts caused by ongoing plastic valorization technologies and their commercial feasibility via life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economical assessment, respectively. Finally, this review emphasizes the inherent challenges associated with existing technologies and the key roles of scientific communities and policy makers in solving these issues.