Clean Cycle: Optimizing Resource Efficiency while Preventing Pollutant Exposure through Plastics Recycling
Recycling of used materials, including plastics, can reduce the need for natural resources and energy. However, if hazardous chemicals are initially present in the materials or unintentionally enter the recycling process, the products made from recycled material may be contaminated and lead to undesired human exposure. In Switzerland, only a minor fraction of used plastics is currently recycled (with an exception being the high recycling rate of PET bottles), while the vast majority is incinerated. However, ongoing political discussions are pushing for enhanced mate-rial recycling to save resources. Thus, this project aims at investigating whether optimized plas-tic material flows can bring environmental benefits while minimizing the risks to human health. Combining the results of two focus areas (described in more detail below) will provide a com-prehensive analysis of plastics recycling, quantifying the benefits in terms of resource efficiency as well as the adverse environmental impacts and health risks from contaminated recycled plas-tics. This will allow to determine an optimal degree of recycling and identify plastic fractions that should be sorted out and disposed of to avoid critical exposure. It will also provide recommen-dations for recycling-friendly product design.
The project has two sub-projects:
Collaboration
Toxicology and Material Analysis Laboratory, SABRA, OCEV, DT, Genève:
Dr. Philippe Favreau
Project Funding
Federal Office for the Environment, Federal Office of Public Health, Cantonal Office of Waste, Water, Energy and Air (Zurich)
Deep Dive into Plastic Monomers, Additives, and Processing Aids
Helene Wiesinger, Zhanyun Wang and Stefanie Hellweg
Environmental Science and Technology, ACS, June 21, 2021, 55, 13, 9339–9351
external pagehttps://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c00976
A high-resolution dataset on the plastic material flows in Switzerland
Magdalena Klotz and Mélanie Haupt
Data in Brief, vol. 41, pp. 108001, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2022.
external pagehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.108001
Limited utilization options for secondary plastics may restrict their circularity
Magdalena Klotz, Mélanie Haupt and Stefanie Hellweg
Waste Management, vol. 141, pp. 251-270, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2022.
external pagehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.01.002
Deep Dive into Plastic Monomers, Additives, and Processing Aids (PlasticMAP), 2021
Helene Wiesinger, Zhanyun Wang, Stefanie Hellweg
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