As outlined in the EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, recycling of polymers is an important but highly challenging issue, especially when it comes to post-consumer waste. In consequence, polymer recycling is a growing field of research and development covering concepts, technologies, and case studies in a wide field of branches. Amongst others, Polymer Recycling addresses issues including: Recovery of polymers from waste packaging, WEEE, ELV, building and construction, and post-industrial plastics and plastic composites; Collection concepts and sorting technologies; New pre-treatment and recycling technologies; Recycling of mixed and multilayered plastics, e.g., from EoL packaging; Recycling of plastic composites including fiber-reinforced polymers, e.g., from automotive and building and construction sectors; Dilemma of circular economy and safe disposal of legacy additives; Odors and contaminants in recycled polymers; Re-compounding and upgrading of recycled polymers; Evaluation of environmental and economic performance of polymer recycling; Process and equipment design for polymer recycling processes and its scale-up; Design for and from recycling; Application of recycled polymers in high-level products. This Special Issue aims to highlight, through original research, review articles and case studies, an updated state-of-the-art of polymer recycling in a series of branches. This issue will report on innovative and disruptive recycling approaches that contribute a) to the general idea of plastics’ circularity and b) to a more sustainable plastic production that implements recycled polymers and reduces the CO₂ footprint.
Keywords: Polymers, commodities, and engineering polymers; Recycling technologies; Sorting technologies; Design; LCA; Case studies.