News Article
October 18, 2016

Packaging: Food waste vs. plastic waste

C&EN presents the debate on the costs of food packaging made of flexible plastics and multilayered structures: Less food waste and economic benefits vs. more difficult recycling and negative environmental impacts

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News Article
April 16, 2021

UK reviews biobased and biodegradable plastics

UK government releases report summarizing stakeholders comments regarding bio-based, biodegradable plastics contribution to circular economy; discusses knowledge gaps; finds lower carbon footprint, potential negative impacts on land-use, waste management; determines use of biodegradables should be limited to specific applications; degradation in the open environment unclear

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News Article
March 13, 2023

Chemical characterization of post-consumer and recycled plastics

Scientists perform target and non-target screening of recycled plastics and provide recommendations on methods; detect >280 organic chemicals and metals in 21 plastic flakes and pellets used in recycling; analyze several recycled polymers and find polyethylene terephthalate (PET) the only one currently complying with European circular economy requirements; compare analytical methods to assess the chemical composition of recyclates giving their strenghts and limitations

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News Article
November 9, 2022

Stakeholders discuss waste management challenges of plastics

Publications from government, academia, civil society organizations, and consultancies paint problematic picture of a circular plastics economy; plastic packaging waste per person found to increase over last decade; low percentage of plastic produced is effectively recycled; pyrolysis (a type of chemical recycling) of plastics produces 9x more emissions than mechanical recycling; “biodegradable” and “compostable” plastics found to not break down in home compost systems

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