Recycling rigid polypropylene from mixed waste: Does the origin affect mechanical recyclate quality?

The increasing demand for plastic and the shortcoming of overall plastic recycling rates underscore the necessary transition towards a circular economy. In Austria, more than half of the generated plastic waste, especially non-packaging waste, is incinerated because of its disposal in mixed wastes. This highlights a vast untapped potential for recycling.

The spatiotemporal distribution of water quality characteristics of the tropical, transboundary Sio Malaba Malakisi River Basin using multivariate statistical techniques.

Surface water pollution driven by land use practices and soil erosion remains a persistent challenge in tropical river basins of East Africa. Despite its socio-economic importance, the transboundary Sio Malaba Malakisi River Basin (SMMRB), shared by Kenya and Uganda, lacks comprehensive data on spatial and seasonal water quality dynamics. This study provides the first year-long baseline assessment of surface water quality in the SMMRB, using water samples collected from 12 monitoring sites across three distinct hydrological seasons: dry, short rainy, and long rainy.

Macro- and microplastics in composts from municipal solid waste industrial composting Plants in Uganda.

Organic fertilizer use constitutes one of the main pathways through which (micro)-plastics enter the environment. However, little is known about the extent of plastic contamination in biowaste composts from Sub-Saharan Africa, where municipal biowaste collection involves minimal to no source separation. This study assessed macro- and microplastic contamination in composts from two Clean Development Mechanism composting facilities in Uganda processing mixed municipal solid waste for agricultural use.

Comprehensive characterization of beverage cartons in urban waste: A case study from Austria.

Beverage cartons are an important packaging material for dairy and other food products. Despite this importance, there are few studies that provide an in-depth characterization of beverage cartons when they become waste. This study aims to fill important data gaps on this packaging waste by presenting the results of a comprehensive characterization of beverage cartons, using the case study of Vienna.

Substance flows of heavy metals in industrial-scale municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash treatment: A case study from Austria.

While standard municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (IBA) treatment aims to recover only ferrous and non-ferrous metals, enhanced treatment of IBA also promotes a recovery of glass and the mineral fraction. In this study, an enhanced dry-wet IBA treatment plant consisting of commonly applied dry process units, including several screens, a crusher, magnetic and eddy current separators and rarely applied wet process units, including a wet jigger, falcon concentrators and a wet shaking table, was evaluated for its ability to treat IBA from grate (G) and fluidized bed (FB) incineration. The process was examined on a material and substance flow level with regard to Ag, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn.

Influence of Different Measuring Backgrounds on the Classification of Multilayer Polyolefin Films Using a Near-Infrared Handheld Spectrometer.

The low thickness of plastic films poses a challenge when using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as it affects the spectral quality and classification. This research focuses on offering a solution to the challenge of classifying multilayer plastic film materials with a focus on polyolefin multilayer plastics. It presents the importance of spectral quality on accurate classification.

Critical properties of plastic packaging waste for recycling: A case study on non-beverage plastic bottles in an urban MSW system in Austria.

The low recycling rate of post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW), which is partly due to insufficient separate collection, heterogeneous composition and high levels of contamination, poses a challenge in Austria, where the recycling rate must double in order to meet the target of 55 %. This study analyzes key packaging characteristics of non-beverage plastic bottles influencing recyclability, using Vienna as a case study. Additionally, a net quantity indicator and separate collection rates were calculated.

Recovery of plastic packaging from mixed municipal solid waste. A case study from Austria.

Austria must recycle more packaging materials. Especially for plastic packaging waste, significant increases are necessary to reach the EU recycling targets for 2025 and 2030. In addition to improving separate collection and introducing a deposit system for specific fractions, the share of plastic packaging in mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) could be utilized.

Glass recovery and production of manufactured aggregate from MSWI bottom ashes from fluidized bed and grate incineration by means of enhanced treatment.

Enhanced treatment of incineration bottom ashes (IBA) from municipal solid waste incineration can contribute to a circular economy since not only metals can be recovered but also glass for recycling. Moreover, the remaining mineral fraction can be utilized in concrete as manufactured aggregate. To evaluate the effects of an enhanced treatment, three IBAs from fluidized bed combustion (FB-IBAs) and three grate incineration bottom ashes (G-IBAs) were standardly treated in a jig and further processed on a pilot scale, including improved metal recovery and sensor-based glass separation.

Comparing the quantity and quality of glass, metals, and minerals present in waste incineration bottom ashes from a fluidized bed and a grate incinerator.

Bottom ash is the primary solid residue arising from municipal solid waste incineration. It consists of valuable materials such as minerals, metals and glass. Recovering these materials from bottom ash becomes evident when integrating Waste-to-Energy within the circular economy strategy.

Separate collection rates for plastic packaging in Austria - A regional analysis taking collection systems and urbanization into account.

According to the EU Circular Economy Package, recycling of plastic packaging waste (PPW) has to be enhanced significantly by 2025 and 2030. Although a set of measures will be required along the whole value chain of plastic packaging, the process of separate collection remains the backbone. Hence, a detailed understanding of the performance of current separate collection systems is crucial.

High-Resolution Maps of Material Stocks in Buildings and Infrastructures in Austria and Germany.

The dynamics of societal material stocks such as buildings and infrastructures and their spatial patterns drive surging resource use and emissions. Two main types of data are currently used to map stocks, night-time lights (NTL) from Earth-observing (EO) satellites and cadastral information. We present an alternative approach for broad-scale material stock mapping based on freely available high-resolution EO imagery and OpenStreetMap data.

Recycling rate - The only practical metric for a circular economy?

The paper is related to the suggestion of metrics for measuring and fostering circular economy. Besides a recycling rate based evaluation, the author recommend to include also a subsitution factor describing the share of primary resources subsituted by the establishment of a circular economy.

What waste management can learn from the traditional mining sector: Towards an integrated assessment and reporting of anthropogenic resources.

Many organizations in Europe collect data and perform research on municipal solid waste and the secondary raw materials that can be produced from them through recycling, urban mining, or landfill mining. However, the information generated and presented thereby is often highly aggregated, while research activities are many a time isolated. Both reduce the usability of the data and information generated.

Legal situation and current practice of waste incineration bottom ash utilisation in Europe.

Almost 500 municipal solid waste incineration plants in the EU, Norway and Switzerland generate about 17.6 Mt/a of incinerator bottom ash (IBA). IBA contains minerals and metals.

Wide-scale utilization of MSWI fly ashes in cement production and its impact on average heavy metal contents in cements: The case of Austria.

A number of studies present the utilization of fly ashes from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) in cement production as a recycling alternative to landfilling. While there is a lot of research on the impact of MSWI fly ashes utilization in cement production on the quality of concrete or the leaching of heavy metals, only a few studies have determined the resulting heavy metal content in cements caused by this MSWI fly ashes utilization. Making use of the case of Austria, this study (1) determines the total content of selected heavy metals in cements currently produced in the country, (2) designs a scenario and calculates the resulting heavy metal contents in cements assuming that all MSWI fly ashes from Austrian grate incinerators were used as secondary raw materials for Portland cement clinker production and (3) evaluates the legal recyclability of demolished concretes produced from MSWI fly ash amended cements based on their total heavy metal contents.

Thermal co-treatment of combustible hazardous waste and waste incineration fly ash in a rotary kiln.

As current disposal practices for municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash are either associated with significant costs or negative environmental impacts, an alternative treatment was investigated in a field scale experiment. Thereto, two rotary kilns were fed with hazardous waste, and moistened MSWI fly ash (water content of 23%) was added to the fuel of one kiln with a ratio of 169kg/Mg hazardous waste for 54h and 300kg/Mg hazardous waste for 48h while the other kiln was used as a reference. It was shown that the vast majority (>90%) of the inserted MSWI fly ash was transferred to the bottom ash of the rotary kiln.

Comparative goal-oriented assessment of conventional and alternative sewage sludge treatment options.

Phosphorous (P) is a limited and non-substitutable resource. Sewage sludge contains significant amounts of P and is therefore a widely applied fertilizer. Due to its organic and inorganic contaminants, sewage sludge is also combusted in industrial facilities as well as in waste incinerators.