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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Release Assessment Methodology for Safe Sustainable and Recyclable by-Design Practices for Plastics: The Epoxy-Resin Composite Case Study
ClearMinimizing the environmental impacts of plastic through eco-design
Researchers developed a sustainability metric for eco-designing plastic products with low environmental persistence by integrating the environmental degradation rate of plastics into established material selection frameworks. The approach allows designers to compare materials on both functional performance and environmental persistence using material property indices.
Method to incorporate green chemistry principles in early-stage product design for sustainability: case studies with personal care products
Researchers developed a method integrating green chemistry principles with ecological risk assessment and life cycle assessment to guide sustainable early-stage product design for down-the-drain consumer products such as personal care items, demonstrating the approach through case studies.
Eco-Design of Polymer Matrix Composite Parts: A Review
This review examines eco-design principles applied to polymer matrix composite parts, covering the environmental impacts of composites across their lifecycle from design and manufacturing through to recycling and end-of-life. The review emphasizes sustainable approaches including waste minimization, recyclability, and the use of bio-based or recycled materials.
Towards Sustainable Recycling of Epoxy-Based Polymers: Approaches and Challenges of Epoxy Biodegradation
This review examined current approaches and challenges for biodegrading epoxy-based polymers, highlighting the difficulty of recycling these widely used thermoset materials and exploring emerging biological and chemical strategies for more sustainable end-of-life management.
Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design Framework: (Re-)Designing the Advanced Materials Lifecycle
This paper proposed a Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) framework for redesigning advanced materials — including plastics and nanomaterials — to minimize hazards and environmental impacts from the earliest design stage. The framework integrates safety, environmental, and circularity criteria into materials development.
A comprehensive critical review of Life Cycle Assessment applied to thermoplastic polymers for mechanical and electronic engineering
This review provides the first critical analysis of how life cycle assessment methodology has been applied to technical thermoplastic polymers used in mechanical and electronic engineering. Researchers identified gaps in existing studies and highlighted the formation of microplastics during production, use, and disposal as a critical but often overlooked environmental concern. The study offers practical recommendations for improving future environmental assessments of engineering plastics.
Utilization of deep eutectic solvents in chemically recycled polymeric resins for multielement determination
Researchers developed green analytical methods using deep eutectic solvents (DES) and natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) for multielement determination in chemically recycled polymeric resins, applying green analytical chemistry principles to minimize environmental and analyst risk.
Developing Bioderived CO2-Responsive Polymers as Alternatives to Petroleum-derived Polymers
Researchers examined the development of bioderived, CO2-responsive polymers as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics, using life cycle assessment principles and green chemistry frameworks to guide material design. The work addresses the environmental harms of petroleum-based plastic production and low recycling rates, proposing bio-based responsive polymers as a route toward materials with reduced environmental impact across their full lifecycle.
Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design Approach and Decision Support System for Advanced Materials
Researchers developed a Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design decision support system and framework for advanced materials, aligned with EU recommendations. The system guides innovators through a stage-gate model with tools for early-stage material assessment and warning flags, enabling systematic safety and sustainability evaluation from ideation through pilot development.
A quality-by-design inspired approach to develop PET and PP nanoplastic test materials for use in in vitro and in vivo biological assays
Researchers developed a quality-by-design approach for producing standardized PET and polypropylene nanoplastic test materials suitable for biological assays. The study provides a systematic framework for generating consistent nanoplastic particles for use in both in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies.
Strategies towards Fully Recyclable Commercial Epoxy Resins: Diels–Alder Structures in Sustainable Composites
Researchers designed epoxy resins incorporating Diels-Alder reversible covalent bonds to enable chemical recycling at end of life, characterizing the thermomechanical properties of the resulting thermosets. The resins showed mechanical performance comparable to commercial epoxies while allowing near-complete depolymerization under mild heating, offering a pathway toward fully recyclable structural composites.
Methodology to address potential impacts of plastic emissions in life cycle assessment
Researchers proposed a new method for including the environmental impact of plastic emissions in life cycle assessments, which currently tend to make plastic products appear less harmful than alternatives. The approach introduces characterization factors based on how long different plastics persist in the environment. The study suggests that accounting for plastic pollution in these assessments could significantly change how the environmental footprint of plastic products is evaluated.
Design framework for circular and sustainable packaging design
Researchers developed a novel packaging design framework integrating circularity and sustainability (C&S) criteria using literature review, expert brainstorming, and field visits. The framework addresses conflicts between sustainability and functional requirements and provides practical iterative strategies for packaging designers.
Use of Qualitative Tools for Evaluating the Implementation of Green Design in Industries
This review evaluates qualitative tools used to assess how well industries have implemented green design and supply chain management practices. While not directly about microplastics, better green design in manufacturing can reduce plastic waste at the source and lower environmental contamination.
Environmental and health hazards of chemicals in plastic polymers and products
Researchers reviewed the environmental and health hazards of chemicals in plastic polymers and products, examining the toxicological profiles of monomers, additives, and degradation products that can leach from plastics into food, water, and the environment. The study identifies numerous plastic-associated chemicals with endocrine-disrupting, carcinogenic, or developmental toxicity potential and calls for more comprehensive safety testing of plastic formulations.
Research on the Performance of Cosmetics Packaging Materials under the Background of Green Transformation
Researchers systematically analyzed cosmetics packaging materials from three dimensions — material properties, production processes, and recycling pathways — in the context of the global green transformation push. The study identified performance optimization strategies for sustainable cosmetic packaging, highlighting trade-offs between sensory appeal and environmental responsibility.
Polymer prioritization framework: A novel multi-criteria framework for source mapping and characterizing the environmental risk of plastic polymers
Researchers developed a multi-criteria framework for ranking the environmental risk of plastic polymers, finding that polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, and polystyrene posed the highest risk, with packaging and construction sectors as dominant sources.
Combining Flexible and Sustainable Design Principles for Evaluating Designs: Textile Recycling Application
Researchers developed a framework combining flexible and sustainable design principles to evaluate textile recycling technologies. The study addresses the growing environmental burden of textile waste in the U.S., where over 15 million tons are discarded annually with less than 15% recycled, contributing to microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed evaluation method aims to help identify recycling approaches that are both economically viable and environmentally responsible.
An Assessment of Mass Balance Accounting Methods for Polymers workshop report
Researchers convened a workshop to assess mass balance accounting methods for polymers, evaluating approaches for tracking recycled content through complex plastic supply chains to support circular economy goals.
Bio-based plastics in a circular economy: A review of recovery pathways and implications for product design
Researchers reviewed how bio-based plastics — made from renewable plant sources — can be recovered and recycled at end-of-life, finding that the feasibility of eight different recovery methods depends heavily not just on plastic chemistry but on how products are designed, and offering guidance for designers to improve recyclability.
Ecotoxicity effect factors for plastic additives on the aquatic environment: a new approach for life cycle impact assessment
Researchers calculated toxicity effect factors for 75 plastic additives — chemicals mixed into plastics to improve flexibility, durability, and color — gathering 461 data points across 75 aquatic species to assess how much these chemicals harm marine and freshwater life. The resulting factors can be used in life cycle assessments to quantify the environmental damage caused by plastic additives leaching into water, helping guide greener plastic design and policy.
Early-Stage Simplified SSbD Screening of a Removable, PVC-Free Screen-Printing Ink: A Qualitative Life Cycle Perspective
Researchers conducted a qualitative sustainability screening of a water-based, partially bio-based, PVC-free screen-printing ink using the EU Safe and Sustainable by Design framework and LCBROM methodology, finding potential reductions in toxicity and environmental persistence compared to conventional plastisol inks, while identifying trade-offs in material cost, fossil-based ingredient reliance, and durability that require future quantitative life-cycle validation.
First Steps Toward Sustainable Circular Uses of Chemicals: Advancing the Assessment and Management Paradigm
This article advances a framework for sustainable circular use of chemicals, proposing updated assessment and management approaches to reduce chemical hazards while enabling circularity in industrial and consumer product systems.
New advances to assess biodegradation and toxicity of alternative environmentally friendly polymers
Researchers developed new methods to assess the biodegradation rates and ecotoxicity of alternative polymers including biobased, recycled, and biodegradable plastics, addressing a gap in risk assessment frameworks focused primarily on conventional plastics. Results showed biodegradability varied greatly by polymer type and environmental conditions, and alternative plastics still exhibited measurable toxicity during degradation.