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Molecular and material property variations during the ideal degradation and mechanical recycling of PET

Environmental Sustainability 2024 48 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Chiara Fiorillo, Lynn Trossaert, Erion Bezeraj, Simon Debrie, Hannelore Ohnmacht, Paul Van Steenberge, Dagmar D’hooge, Mariya Edeleva

Summary

This review analyzes how repeated mechanical recycling of PET degrades its molecular and material properties—such as molecular weight, viscosity, and crystallinity—across multiple cycles. Understanding these interconnected changes is essential for assessing the feasibility and limits of PET mechanical recycling in a circular economy.

To verify if PET mechanical recycling is feasible, we need to acknowledge chemical and material property variations. This review highlights the relevance of the connectivity of these variations as a function of the number of recycling cycles.

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