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Plastic waste recycling in arid regions: technology selection and sustainability trade-offs in Qatar
Summary
This review pulls together existing research to figure out the best ways to recycle plastic waste in hot, dry places like Qatar, where recycling is especially tricky. The big takeaway: there's no one-size-fits-all solution—clean plastic can be recycled simply, but dirty or mixed plastic needs fancier (and pricier) processes, and even then, recycled plastic can break down into microplastics or lose quality over time. This matters because as recycling scales up globally, understanding these trade-offs helps ensure we're not accidentally creating new pollution or health risks while trying to solve the plastic waste problem.
Plastic waste recycling has become an important pathway for reducing landfill dependence, conserving resources, and supporting circular economy transitions, particularly in arid regions where high material demand, harsh climatic conditions, and limited recycling infrastructure can constrain waste recovery. This review develops a technology-selection framework for plastic waste recycling in Qatar, with relevance to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and other arid-region economies. The review synthesizes literature on plastic waste feedstocks, mechanical and chemical recycling routes, solvent-assisted recycling, pelletization, construction materials, additive manufacturing, life cycle assessment, techno-economic performance, digital enablers, and Qatar/GCC-specific implementation challenges. The analysis indicates that recycling pathways should not be evaluated solely on the basis of direct environmental burdens, but also in relation to feedstock quality, contamination level, recyclate performance, virgin-material substitution potential, processing cost, and end-use requirements. Mechanical recycling and pelletization are generally preferred for clean and separated polyethylene and polypropylene streams because of their lower processing complexity and higher commercial maturity. However, mixed, contaminated, or compatibility-limited plastic waste may require advanced sorting, compatibilization, solvent-assisted recycling, or selected chemical recycling routes to recover material value. Recycled plastics show potential in construction materials, fiber-reinforced systems, recycled filaments, oil sorbents, activated carbon composites, and other functional products; however, quality loss, microplastic generation, durability uncertainty, standardization gaps, and scale-up limitations continue to present important challenges. Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things systems, and digital twins, can improve sorting accuracy, material traceability, process control, and lifecycle decision-making. Overall, the review emphasizes that circular plastic recycling in Qatar and similar arid regions requires feedstock-specific technology selection, life cycle and techno-economic assessment, localized recycling infrastructure, quality standards, and coordinated policy support.