Abstract
Nowadays, bio-plastics can contaminate conventional plastics sent to recycling. Furthermore, the low volume of bio-plastics currently in use has discourage the development of new technologies for their identification and separation. Technologies based on hyperspectral data detection may be profitably employed to separate the bio-plastics from traditional ones and to increase the quality of recycled products. In fact, sensing devices make it possible to accomplish the essential requirement of a mechanical recycling technology, i.e., end products which comply with specific standards determined by industrial applications. This paper presents the results of the hyperspectral analysis conducted on two different plastic polymers (PolyEthylene Terephthalate and PolyStyrene) and one bio-based and biodegradable plastic material (PolyLactic Acid) in different phases of their life cycle (primary raw materials and urban waste). The reflectance analysis is focused on the near-infrared region (900–1700 nm) and data are detected with a linear-spectrometer apparatus and a spectroradiometer. A rapid and reliable identification of three investigated polymers is achieved by using simple two near-infrared wavelength operators employing key wavelengths.
Highlights
In recent years, plastics belonging to the family of organic polymers have experienced a wide commercial spread mainly due to their excellent physical and mechanical characteristics and to the availability of raw materials
This paper presents the results of the hyperspectral analysis conducted on two different plastic polymers (PolyEthylene Terephthalate and PolyStyrene) and one bio-based and biodegradable plastic material (PolyLactic Acid) in different phases of their life cycle
This paper presents the hyperspectral analysis of samples of three types of plastics, two of traditional type (PET and polystyrene (PS)) and one of bio-based and degradable origin (PLA)
Summary
Plastics belonging to the family of organic polymers have experienced a wide commercial spread mainly due to their excellent physical and mechanical characteristics and to the availability of raw materials. The use of products realized with plastics may involve potentially harmful impacts on the environment and human health, for example in the case of non-virtuous management of the products’ end-of-life. These issues have directed the research into plastics with similar characteristics with respect to traditional ones, but which minimize the negative impacts resulting from their life cycle (from sourcing and manufacturing to end-of-life management). According to [1], a plastic material is defined as a bio-plastic if it is either bio-based, biodegradable, or features both properties. In the paper we will generically refer to bio-plastics though we will investigate a bio-based and biodegradable bio-plastic, i.e., PolyLactic Acid (PLA)
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