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Environmental Sustainability of Solvent Extraction Method in Recycling Marine Plastic Waste
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A solvent-based dissolution-reprecipitation method successfully recovered high-density polyethylene and polypropylene from real marine plastic debris with recovery rates above 87%, while a lifecycle assessment showed the process has a lower environmental footprint than conventional plastic production. This offers a promising pathway to recycle ocean plastic back into usable materials rather than downcycling or landfilling it.
The global plastic production of 400 million tons/year has caused major catastrophes in marine environments. The current study, therefore, aimed to mitigate this challenge through the dissolution–reprecipitation method of eradicating impurities and contaminants from marine plastic debris. The results revealed that the rate of the dissolution of polyethylene (PE) outweighed polypropylene (PP) at lower temperatures. HDPE (high density polyethylene) and PP had optimal dissolution temperatures of 75 °C and 90 °C at 20 and 30 min, respectively, resulting in recovery percentages of 96.67% and 87.35% when applied to actual marine waste samples. Overall, this recycling method conserved the plastic quality and properties, making it a viable alternative for virgin plastics. The life cycle assessment (LCA) revealed that the drying stage demonstrated the greatest environmental impact within the system. The overall process, however, yielded a lower environmental impact in comparison with established findings. Conclusively, the current study has successfully restored marine plastic waste with high recovery rates and minimum chemical alterations, yielding a low environmental footprint.
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