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The foamed structure of recycled polyethylene-terephthalate (rPET) is a promising solution for industrial applications; however, the remedy for its inherent melt-dripping property is still a challenging topic. In our research, we were able to improve the flame retardancy of the endothermic–exothermic hybrid rPET foam by adding a different mixture of flame retardants to the formula. Three different kinds of halogen-free flame retardant agents were used: ammonium polyphosphate-based Exolit AP 422 (AP), organic aluminum phosphate in the form of Exolit OP 1240 (OP), and Budit 342 containing melamine polyphosphate (MPP). The hybrid flame retardant mixture, by combining the swelling and charring mechanism, increased the flame retardancy of the samples. The sample made with 15 phr OP and 5 phr MPP displayed outstanding performance, where five samples were capable of self-extinguishing in 5 s, while only slightly decreasing the tensile and flexural strength properties and simultaneously increasing the Young and flexural modulus compared to the reference sample. The addition of MPP reduced the porosity in many cases, while preventing cell coalescence. Our results prove that the hybrid flame retardant agent frameworks efficiently increase the flame retardancy of rPET foams, facilitating their application in industrial sectors such as the aerospace, packaging, renewable energy, and automotive industries to realize sustainability goals. The utilization of halogen-free flame retardants is beneficial for better air quality, reducing toxic gas and smoke emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the domestic solid waste management system in the LATAM region, using the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador as a case study. Through the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, the study compares domestic and external recycling processes, evaluating their effects on global warming potential, fossil resource scarcity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The results reveal that increasing recycling rates significantly reduces environmental impacts, with domestic recycling offering slightly higher environmental benefits than external options. A demographic analysis using machine learning techniques identifies distinct patterns of waste generation across different population clusters, highlighting the need for tailored waste management strategies. The study also emphasizes the importance of accurate local data and the integration of recycling initiatives with market realities, particularly in the light of policies mandating recycled content in products like PET bottles. A sensitivity analysis of the waste recovery indicator (WRI) demonstrates the potential for substantial environmental and economic benefits with higher recycling rates. The findings suggest that, to advance towards a circular economy, Latin American cities like Guayaquil must enhance their recycling infrastructure, refine waste management policies, and focus on demographic-specific strategies. This research contributes to the broader understanding of sustainable waste management in developing regions, offering insights for future policy and infrastructure development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, the use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has seen significant growth, particularly in the packaging industry. However, its long decomposition time poses serious environmental challenges. The aim of this research was to develop a process for the foaming of large quantities of recycled PET (rPET) using endothermic and exothermic foaming agents. Various formulations with different ratios of endothermic and exothermic foaming agents were prepared, as well as their mixtures. The study found that the endothermic–exothermic hybrid foaming process resulted in a finer cell-size distribution and enhanced mechanical properties, making the foams highly suitable for widespread applications. The results support the potential use of exothermic foaming agents as nucleating agents in a hybrid foaming system. In particular, the ratio of 3% endothermic and 1% exothermic foaming agents proved optimal in terms of achieving a balance between porosity and mechanical strength, thereby enabling broad industrial applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the recent ban on the production and use of long-chain perfluorinated compounds, the development of alternative approaches to prepare liquid-repellent surfaces that avoids the use of such compounds has become an urgent issue. We have succeeded in the development of fish-mimicking hydrophilic transparent hydrogel-based films with long-lasting anti-oil adhesion properties. Such films could be prepared by simply mixing poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), nanoclay particles (NCPs), and a waterborne aminosilane (AOS) using an integral blend (IB) method. When submerged in water, these films displayed underwater superoleophobicity (advancing and receding contact angles (CAs) of diiodomethane were ~171°/~163°) with low CA hysteresis (less than 8°), because the hydrophilic nature of the films promoted the formation of a thin layer of adsorbed water on the topmost film surfaces, similar to fish scales. Furthermore, when our films were coated onto the inside of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles and pre-wetted using 80 °C hot water vapors, these film surfaces could effectively repel various oils and were able to maintain their oil-repellent properties for more than 5 weeks. These water-driven, non-perfluorinated transparent hydrogel-based films are expected to increase recycling of PET bottles for oils that are generally incinerated or landfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the impact of human-caused climate change on tree mortality and biome shifts. Research conducted in the Sahel region of Africa found that temperature and rainfall were the main factors contributing to tree mortality, with one in every five trees dying from 1954 to 1989. Climate change has also caused biome shifts in various ecosystems worldwide. The article emphasizes the need to reduce carbon pollution and take action at all levels to address climate change. It also highlights the negative environmental impacts of excessive material consumption and the importance of adopting sustainable practices. The Paris Agreement and policies promoting renewable energy and greenhouse gas reductions are mentioned as steps towards halting climate change. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of individual actions in minimizing material consumption and living simply to protect the environment. The given text provides a list of references and citations from various sources related to climate change, environmental impact, and related topics, which can be valuable for library patrons conducting research on these subjects. [Extracted from the article]

In order to investigate the effect of water surface evaporation abatement and water saving benefits under different floating coverage conditions, PE bottles, HDPE balls, and plastic film panels were used as test materials, and three different water surface coverage rates were set to carry out two consecutive annual non-glacial large-scale evaporation pool tests in the central arid zone of Ningxia, to comparatively analyze the evaporation abatement rates, water surface temperatures, changes in water quality, and water-saving costs and benefits of different covering materials and coverage rates. The results show that: the evaporation abatement rate of covering materials tends to increase from April to June, and tends to decrease from July to October; under the same conditions, the evaporation rate of the three types of cover of HDPE balls is 42.14%, 56.56%, 70.15%, which is significantly higher than that of PE bottles and plastic film panels; with the increase of the coverage rate of the material, the water body warms up more obviously, and plastic film panels have the greatest impact on water temperature, followed by HDPE balls, and PE bottles; no toxic substances were found in the covered water body and the water quality is stable and getting better. Under the same coverage, the water saving cost of HDPE balls is the lowest, and that of plastic film plates is the highest: with the same coverage material, 50% coverage is the lowest, 75% coverage is the highest; the value of direct benefits of the three materials to eliminate water surface evaporation is negative, but taking into account the indirect benefits of the case, if HDPE balls are used to cover 10 000 m² of water surface, the lifetime coverage rates of 50%, 75%, and 90% can realize positive benefits of 259 400 yuan, 274 100 yuan, and 360 600 yuan, respectively. After a comprehensive consideration of water-saving effect, water-saving costs and benefits, HDPE ball is identified as the water-saving material that can be used to reduce water surface evaporation in arid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, 150 million tons of glass was produced globally, and approximately 47% of that amount was glass hollowware for tableware and food, beverage, and cosmetics packaging. Glass is considered one of the most recyclable materials as its properties and performance do not degrade upon reheating and reforming; yet only 21% of global production is recycled. The most recycled type of glass is soda–lime silicate bottle glass based on its widespread availability and its ability to accommodate higher levels of contamination compared to flat glass and specialty glass. Bottle glass manufacturers melt glass batch that is 10%–60% recycled glass cullet, limited only by the availability of pristine glass cullet that is free of contaminants such as plastic, metal, and organic material. Increasing rates of recycled content in glass manufacturing is stymied by the lack of a supply chain to deliver high quality glass cullet to manufacturers, as well as risk of material incompatibility and contamination. In this work, post‐consumer glass bottles of different colors, shapes, and brands were analyzed for chemical composition and thermal properties to quantify variation across five major color families: clear, blue, amber, forest green, and emerald green. This work shows that post‐consumer bottles of different colors and brands can be remelted without risk of material incompatibility and presents various processing methods to control color homogeneity in glass produced exclusively from mixed color cullet from recycled glass bottles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recycling and proper management of PET bottles is needed to avoid plastic pollution, as well as to achieve a plastic circular economy. In this study, we examined the recycling system of PET bottles and their material flows by life cycle, from production to recycling and disposal under different scenarios with reduced consumption for PET bottles. In Korea, PET bottle recycling has been managed by the extended producer responsibility system since 2003. As of 2021, annual usage of PET bottles per capita in Korea was estimated to be approximately 6.5 kg. The recycling rate of PET bottles after collection was determined to be 79% in 2021. However, recycled PET (or r-PET) from mechanical recycling is mostly used in low-grade PET applications such as short fibers, bands, and sheets. More than 112 thousand tons of r-PET chips would be needed to meet the 30% recycled content requirement in PET bottles in 2030 by regulation. Thus, there is an urgent need for high-quality secondary raw materials (i.e., food-grade) by adopting advanced sorting and recycling technologies for PET bottles with recycled content. PET bottle-to-bottle recycling practices can ensure the production of high-quality recycled materials and move Korea toward a plastic circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel catalysts for recycling PET bottles into monomers have been developed by depositing zinc onto the surface of SBA-15, mitigating ZnO catalyst agglomeration in glycolysis separation processes to enhance reaction yields. Various zinc compounds (Zn(OAc)2, ZnCl2, and ZnSO4) were employed as substrates for catalyst design on the porous, high-surface-area material SBA-15 via impregnation. The presence of distinct Zn species on SBA-15 was confirmed through XRD and EDS analyses. The acidity of the catalyst, a crucial factor in the PET glycolysis process, was assessed using different Zn-containing precursors. NH3-TPD measurement has revealed the highest acidity in ZnCl2, followed by Zn(OAc)2 and ZnSO4, respectively. Glycolysis reactions with a PET:EG ratio of 1:5 and a 1% catalyst at 200°C for 2 hours revealed the catalytic efficacy of zincdeposited compounds in the sequence ZnCl2 > Zn(OAc)2 > ZnSO4. Surprisingly, the ZnCl2 catalyst produced the highest yield of bis-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET) at 75% and displayed exceptional recycling capability over three cycles, contributing significantly to resource recovery objectives aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper is about the development of a hybrid renewable energy–powered Laboratory–Scale plastic bottle waste converter for the conversion (pyrolysis) of plastic (PET) bottle wastes into useful petroleum products such as Diesel, kerosene, gasoline, etc. Waste plastic disposal and indiscriminate use of fossil fuels have caused environmental and health concerns in our societies. This is not unconnected with the ever–increasing consumption of products packaged in plastics by the teeming population the world over. Plastics are non–biodegradable products that pollute our environments, clog our canals and drainages, and eventually end up in the seas where they pollute and affect marine ecological systems. The process of converting waste plastic bottles into useful petroleum products is one of the viable solutions for the recycling of plastic bottle waste and turning the problems of plastic bottle careless disposals into an opportunity to make wealth from waste and also save the ecosystem. Heat is provided externally to the heating chamber that runs at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen by a DC heating element. The waste plastic bottles are shredded to reduce their volume–to–weight ratio and filled into the heating chamber where it is subjected to excessive heat to depolymerize, pyrolyze, and thermal cracking. The resulting gases are passed through a condenser to obtain different products such as petrol, kerosene, diesel, etc depending on the operating temperature of the chamber. The fuel obtained is useful in firing boilers and furnaces directly without any analysis or purification. It can be scaled up for commercial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the era of circular economy, the deposit-refund system (DRS) for e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is thought to be a good choice to achieve a more structured plastic recycling. The present research has the aim to make a comprehensive description and a practical guideline in order to evaluate how collection and separation system influence the quality and efficiency of mechanical recycling of PET. The DRS has been symbolized by manually collected bottles with (BCL) and without (B) caps and labels. Samples have been given from the selective income (SI) and the sorting residue (SR) of a manual selective waste sorting plant and PET fraction of refuse derived fuel (RDF). Based on preliminary qualification results such as melt flow indices (MFI), PET bottles are worth selecting into the main colours like water clear, blue, and all the others together, referred to as PET-A, PET-B, and PET-D fractions of the sorting plant. The SR seemed to be a beneficial raw material for PET recycling as both mechanical and rheological properties were proper enough. PET separated from the Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant as RDF showed the worst processing and mechanical properties, but both can be improved with deeper precleaning. X-ray tomography (CT) scans have shown a correlation between the source of waste and the gas void structure which influence the macroscopic mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The release of bisphenol A (BPA) from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles in non‐carbonated water was investigated in this work through migration and leaching tests. Several types of PET bottles approved and used by several Romanian non‐carbonated mineral water brands were tested in this work. It was highlighted that both the storage temperature and the storage time of bottled water in PET bottles influence the degree of PBA release. Thus, increasing the temperature and storage time favours the release of BPA from PET. The higher the storage temperature, the higher is the diffusivity of BPA. The degree of BPA release is also closely related to the brand of PET. This could be related to the degree of contamination of the raw material in the manufacturing process of PET bottles or during their recycling. The physico‐chemical characteristics and stability of PET bottles in different environmental conditions can also influence the release of BPA from them. The leaching tests confirmed the potential for BPA contamination of long‐term non‐carbonated water bottled in PET bottles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water bottles are widely used in the Gulf countries. One estimate indicates that the water bottle usage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may reach up to 250 L of water per person annually. Generally, the water bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a recyclable material. Because of the non-availability of a powerful incentive system, these recyclable water bottles are often disposed of in landfills. This paper proposes a feasibility study of building a Deposit–Refund System (DRS) to encourage the closed-loop recycling of 0.5 L PET water bottles in the UAE waste disposal system. Water bottles are collected by a reverse vending machine (RVM) and recycled to produce PET bottles, and the proposed system will reward consumers with 0.04 United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) per deposited water bottle. Additionally, this study calculates the cost of 100% virgin polyethylene terephthalate (vPET) and 60% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottles based on the UAE population, data obtained from local water bottle companies, and existing research. Adopting this DRS will cut down on waste, protect the environment, improve the manufacturing process of water bottles, and boost the local economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Itinerant Roma migrants travelling from Eastern European countries have featured across the European Economic Area (EEA) since the European Union's eastward expansions in 2004 and 2007. Being unskilled, many Roma migrants engage in casual work and street work such as playing music, selling magazines, collecting and recycling bottles and cans, and begging, making them conspicuously visible in countries with public welfare services and low poverty levels. Citizens of EEA countries can enter and stay legally in other countries in the EEA for up to three months, after which they must register as workers or jobseekers, and generally leave. It is well documented how the countries Roma citizens of EEA countries travel to have enacted migration control measures, often in the form of complex and fine-grained regulations, that exclude them from public welfare services. This is also true of the Nordic countries, such as Norway, where they coincide with universalistic welfare states aiming to cover everyone living in their territories with the same benefits and services. In the Nordic countries, as in other countries, service provision for Roma migrants is largely in the hands of non-governmental organisations, many of them diaconal organisations running emergency shelters, soup kitchens, and other humanitarian services to alleviate suffering for people at the margins of the welfare state. The diaconal organisations also engage in case work and advocacy work to ensure the realisation of the Roma migrants' rights. Many of the organisations depend on public grants, making their relationship to the welfare state ambiguous. This article investigates Christian social practice in the form of diaconal engagement for Roma migrants in Oslo, Norway at the intersection of migration control, the universalistic welfare state, and the theological underpinnings of the organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, human activity has a substantial impact on the environment, and we are responsible for determining what it will look like in a few or a dozen decades. Numerous IT solutions are being developed to reduce the negative influence on the environment. In particular, the main problem is the amount of plastic found in circulation and its recycling. Unfortunately, only few solutions exist that, on the one hand, support the reuse of the raw material and, on the other hand, give tangible benefits to users. In this work, we present a blockchain-based system for monitoring the recycling process of plastic bottles. The solution was described by technical, social, and performance characteristics. It should be emphasized that the adopted features of the new blockchain, such as a simplified code or complete decentralization, distinguish the solution from those currently created. Moreover, performance and fraud detection tests were performed. The results present that the solution for a PoW difficulty level of 3 still achieves decent times when generating a block with transactions (from the point of view of the recycling process). In addition, fraud detection tests have proven the ability to detect forged transactions. The outcomes from performed experiments show that the proposed concept can be used as an efficient and fraud-resilient solution in the case of the plastic recycling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, post-consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles were gathered, separated from other materials, and re-extruded. In order to evaluate the effect of re-extrusion on the structure of PET, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was utilised. No significant effect of the re-extrusion process on the structure of the PET sample was noticed. Obtained samples were also characterised by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in order to determine characteristic thermal transitions of PET. DSC results indicated the influence of re-extrusion; extruded PET started to melt at lower temperatures, and the crystallisation of re-extruded PET took place at significantly higher temperatures in comparison to PET. Likewise, thermogravimetric analysis (TG) was used to evaluate the effect of re-extrusion process on the thermal stability of samples. TG analysis revealed that the re-extrusion process had no effect on the thermal stability of the investigated PET samples. Finally, the activation energy of thermal degradation of the investigated samples was calculated using iso-conversional Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Friedman method. Consequently, higher activation energies were noticed for the re-extruded PET sample in comparison to the PET bottle sample, which is a good argument in support of PET bottle recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ecological importance, the feeding ecology of the large calanoid copepod, Neocalanus cristatus is little known, as its ingestion rate under experimental conditions consistently falls short of its metabolic demand. The conventional incubation bottle size (~ 2 liters) used in previous studies may have affected its feeding behavior. Here, we examined the effect of bottle size (2.4 vs. 13liters) and copepod density on the feeding of N. cristatus Stage C5. Under similar copepod density (0.4 ind. L−1) ingestion rates decreased significantly for tests conducted in small bottles and thus, small bottles inhibited copepod feeding. In experiments with large bottles, ingestion rates were highest in the single‐individual treatments (1 ind. 13 L−1), decreasing exponentially to < 1% of the maximum ingestion rate with increasing copepod densities (up to 20 ind. 13 L−1). Considerable food limitation occurred in the higher copepod density treatments with lower initial prey allocation per individual. Moreover, in the single‐individual treatments, clearance rates on naked ciliates (11–20 L ind.−1 d−1) were remarkably higher than in multiple‐individual treatments. Grazer–grazer interaction, thus, interfered with copepod feeding on microzooplankton in multiple‐individual treatments. The ingestion rate in the single‐individual treatments (62–102 μgC ind.−1 d−1) exceeded the daily metabolic requirement; feeding rates noted in previous studies were, thus, underestimations, affected by bottle size and copepod mutual interference. Efficient feeding by N. cristatus on naked ciliates emphasizes the importance of the ciliate‐copepod link in the grazing food chain in the subarctic Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to be a major challenge in almost every country. In Indonesia alone, approximately 64 million tons of MSW are produced on an annual basis. While polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles account for 12% of all plastic products, the waste is not well managed. Many stakeholders are involved in PET bottle waste recycling but no forum for stakeholders has been established. In this study, the aim is to identify an acceptable system for PET bottle waste, to determine the role and function of each stakeholder, and to propose a framework under the perspective of public-private partnerships. The study's novelty is the elaborate roles and schematic framework for various stakeholders in PET bottle waste. The aim is to identify an acceptable scheme for PET bottle waste and determine each stakeholder's role and function. Data was generated from electronic databases (2017 to December 2021) a systematic literature review methodology followed by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review. The data were analyzed by the Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach. This study found that the laws and regulations for waste management in Indonesia are not suitable for dealing with PET bottle waste, and the government carries out limited tasks and dedicates few resources to managing the waste. A public-private partnership framework was proposed to divide the role, commitment, goal, and activities of each stakeholder to properly manage PET bottle waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a project that aims to provide people with disabilities with simple assistive devices in Colombia, the possibility of creating a PET filament that can be printed by Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) from beverage bottle waste was investigated, with the aim to remain as simple as possible in terms of plastic collection, sorting, processing, and printing. Recycled PET filaments were thus produced by extrusion from collected PET bottles, with the potential addition of HDPE, which comes from caps and rings. The microstructure, mechanical performance, and printing quality of parts produced with these filaments were investigated in comparison to commercial PET virgin and recycled filaments. HDPE presence as an immiscible blend did not affect the ease of extrusion or the quality of the printing, which were all satisfactory. In some conditions, the addition of 5 wt% of HDPE to recycled PET had a toughening effect on otherwise brittle samples. This behavior was attributed to the presence of elongated HDPE inclusions resulting from shear forces induced by the layer-by-layer printing, provided that the interface temperature remained high between layer depositions. This confirms that the mechanical performance of recycled PET is very sensitive to the processing conditions, especially in the case of 3D printing. Nonetheless, this low-cost process that did not require sophisticated compatibilization schemes allowed for the printing of parts with mechanical properties comparable to those obtained with high purity, commercially recycled filaments, opening interesting perspectives for a low-cost PET recycling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valorization of local by-products in the manufacture of a new range of sand concrete and the improvement of their properties, will lead to seek an arrangement between performance and cost in order to achieve a resistant material. Waste recycling affects two very important affect namely the environmental impact and the economic impact. The main objective of our work is to contribute to optimize the formulation of sand concrete as part of the recovery of waste, which is harmful to the environment given its bulky and unattractive nature, it is waste plastic. Most PET bottles become waste after use, causing environmental problems. To solve this problem, a method for recycling PET bottles as fibers to strengthen concrete is proposed. Two types of plastic waste are added to sand concrete; the first concerns the recycling of post-consumer bottles in PET, in the form of polyester fiber supplied by the company RET-PLAST and the second type concerns the packaging belts made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The properties in the fresh state (workability and density) and in the hardened state (compressive strength, tensile strength and water absorption) of the various produced concretes are analyzed and compared against their respective controls. From the experimental results, it can be concluded that the reinforcement of the cement matrix with PET fibers with a rate of 1% improves the mechanical properties of sand concrete as well as a remarkable decrease in its water absorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its low cost and easy use, the use of material extrusion (MEX) as an additive manufacturing (AM) technology has increased rapidly in recent years. However, this process mainly involves the processing of new plastics. Combining the MEX process with polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which offers a high potential for mechanical and chemical recyclability, opens up a broad spectrum of reutilization possibilities. Turning used PET bottles into printable filament for MEX is not only a recycling option, but also an attractive upcycling scenario that can lead to the production of complex, functional parts. This work analyzes the process of extruding recycled PET bottle flakes into a filament, taking different extrusion screws and extrusion parameters into account. The filament is subsequently processed with MEX into tensile tests. An accompanying thermal, rheological and mechanical characterization of the recycled resin is performed to offer a comparison to the virgin material and a commercially available glycol modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) filament. The results show the importance of adequate drying parameters prior to the extrusion and the sensitivity of the material to moisture, leading to degradation. The recycled material is more prone to degradation and presents lower viscosities. Mechanical tests display a higher tensile strength of the recycled and virgin resin in comparison to the PETG. The extrusion of the used PET into a filament and the subsequent printing with the MEX process offers a viable recycling process for the discarded material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PET bottle waste is easy to recycle because it is easy to separate, abundant, and competitively priced. Technologies for the treatment of PET bottle waste have been evaluated to date by using life cycle assessment (LCA), but this does not take into account all of the aspects that policymakers consider necessary when selecting an acceptable technology. Aspects such as society, economics, policies, and technical applicability need to be considered along with the environment and resource consumption to complement the LCA results for PET bottle waste. These aspects were selected as criteria for the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and stakeholders were invited to make a comparison evaluation of the criteria and sub-criteria. Academics were involved to compare the technology options. The results show that society is the highest priority because it is the main actor that ensures the application of the technology, and that job creation is the most important indicator for the selection of the technology in society criteria. After comparing open landfills, sanitary landfills, incineration with energy recovery, pelletizing, glycolysis, and hydrolysis for the utilization of PET bottle waste, this study suggests pelletizing as the acceptable technology for Indonesia because pelletizing is dominant in all the criteria and sub-criteria which support sustainability in waste management. This is the first time that a single plastic fraction that is easy to collect and recycle has been studied with the AHP. The results show that this type of plastic could also be reused in developing countries through mechanical recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic materials are one of the significant components of construction materials omnipresent in all areas of the industry and everyday life. One of these plastics is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Due to its processing properties, with a simultaneous low production cost, PET has been used in many industrial applications, including the production of various types of bottles. Moreover, the high consumption of PET bottles causes the accumulation of large amounts of their waste and necessitates finding an effective way to recycle them. Electrospinning is a well-known non-complicated method for the fabrication of nonwovens from polymers and composites, which can be utilized in many fields due to their outstanding properties. In addition, it might be a promising technique for the recycling of plastic materials. Therefore, in this study, the electrospinning approach for the recycling of two types of PET bottle wastes—bottles made of virgin PET and bottles made of recycled PET (PET bottles) has been utilized, and a comparison of the properties of the obtained materials have been performed. The fibers with diameters of 1.62 ± 0.22, 1.64 ± 0.18, and 1.89 ± 0.19 have been produced from solutions made of virgin PET granulate, PET bottles, and PET bottles made of recycled bottles, respectively. Obtained fibers underwent morphological observation using a scanning electron microscope. Physico-chemical properties using FTIR, gel chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry have been evaluated, and mechanical properties of obtained mats have been investigated. Cytotoxicity tests using the L929 mouse fibroblast cell line revealed no cytotoxicity for all tested materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic bottle recycling has a crucial role in environmental degradation and protection. Position and background should be the same to classify plastic bottles on a conveyor belt. The manual detection of plastic bottles is time consuming and leads to human error. Hence, the automatic classification of plastic bottles using deep learning techniques can assist with the more accurate results and reduce cost. To achieve a considerably good result using the DL model, we need a large volume of data to train. We propose a GAN-based model to generate synthetic images similar to the original. To improve the image synthesis quality with less training time and decrease the chances of mode collapse, we propose a modified lightweight-GAN model, which consists of a generator and a discriminator with an auto-encoding feature to capture essential parts of the input image and to encourage the generator to produce a wide range of real data. Then a newly designed weighted average ensemble model based on two pre-trained models, inceptionV3 and xception, to classify transparent plastic bottles obtains an improved classification accuracy of 99.06%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A practical solution to the problems caused by the water, air, and soil pollution produced by the large volumes of waste is recycling. Plastic and glass bottle recycling is a practical solution but sometimes unfeasible in underdeveloped countries. In this paper, we propose a high-performance real-time hardware architecture for bottle classification, that process input image bottles to generate a bottle color as output. The proposed architecture was implemented on a Spartan-6 Field Programmable Gate Array, using a Hardware Description Language. The proposed system was tested for several input resolutions up to 1080 p, but it is flexible enough to support input video resolutions up to 8 K. There is no evidence of a high-performance bottle classification system in the state-of-the-art. The main contribution of this paper is the implementation and integration of a set of dedicated image processing blocks in a high-performance real-time bottle classification system. These hardware modules were integrated into a compact and tunable architecture, and was tested in a simulated environment. Concerning the image processing algorithm implemented in the FPGA, the maximum processing rate is 60 frames per second. In practice, the maximum number of bottles that can be processed would be limited by the mechanical aspects of the bottle transportation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this globalized era, building materials play an essential role in the civil engineering field. nowadays, with the increase in population, the demand for construction activities is also increasing. Polyethylene (Pet) bottles are among the most widely used materials and cause an abundance of non-degradable waste, at about 0.94 million tonnes in Malaysia. one of the alternatives to reduce this waste's environmental impact is to incorporate it inside building materials such as brick and concrete. as Pet bottles' recycling is highly promoted, the physical and mechanical properties of building materials made from Pet bottles have also been reviewed. the data analysis shows that the compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength and density of building materials decreases as the percentage of Pet waste increases. however, other properties such as water absorption, initial absorption rate, and firing shrinkage increase proportionally with the Pet waste. besides, heavy metals in these building materials comply with the united states environmental Protection agency (usePa) standards. It can be concluded that the percentage of Pet waste incorporated into brick and concrete must be less than 5% and 2%, respectively, to produce suitable materials to provide alternatives in reducing and recycling Pet waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the evolution and impact of PET (polyethylene terephthalate)) bottles over the past fifty years. Topics include the widespread use of PET bottles, their role in packaging and marketing, and the environmental concerns related to PET waste, including the need for recycling and sustainability measures.

Understanding how consumers make recycling decisions is crucial in crafting sustainable recycling policies. We estimate consumer preferences and willingness to pay for current beverage container recycling methods, including curbside pick-up services, drop-off at government-subsidized recycling centers, and drop-off at non-subsidized centers. Using a representative online and telephone survey of California households, we estimate a revealed preference discrete choice model that identifies the key attributes explaining consumers' beverage container disposal decisions, including the ability to receive a deposit refund (paid to consumers only if they recycle at drop-off centers) and the effort associated with bringing recyclable materials to recycling centers. Additionally, we use counterfactual policy analysis to show that increasing the refund amount increases overall household recycling rates. Infra–marginal households who are on the boundary between taking containers to recycling centers and recycling using curbside pick-up, namely white households and households with higher educational attainment, see the largest changes in consumer surplus generated by increasing refund payments. Conversely, we show that eliminating government-subsidized drop-off centers does not significantly alter consumer surplus for any major demographic group, and has little impact on whether a household chooses to recycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]