Lehrstuhl für Abfallverwertungstechnik und Abfallwirtschaft (AVAW) Department für Umwelt- & Energieverfahrenstechnik Montanuniversität Leoben Franz-Josef-Straße 18, 8700 Leoben, Österreich Telefon: +43 (0) 3842 / 402-5101, Fax: -5102 E-Mail: avaw@unileoben.ac.at, Homepage: avaw.unileoben.ac.at Equipment used: NIR Sorter in MUL Conclusion: • PHB has a distinct spectra & was sorted out from mixed plastic fraction for all the 10 trials. • Present research contributes to the field of Group 1 bioplastics waste management through NIR sensor- based sorting. Results: A B C D E F Spectra after pre-processing (1st derivative, smoothing and normalization) Bibliography: 1. Briassoulis, D., Pikasi, A., & Hiskakis, M. (2019). End-of-waste life: Inventory of alternative end-of-use recirculation routes of bio-based plastics in the European Union context. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2019.1591867 2. Briassoulis, D., Pikasi, A., & Hiskakis, M. (2020). Recirculation potential of post-consumer /industrial bio-based plastics through mechanical recycling - Techno-economic sustainability criteria and indicators. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 109217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2020.109217 3. European Bioplastics. (2020). FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON BIOPLASTICS. European Bioplastics. https://docs.european- bioplastics.org/publications/EUBP_FAQ_on_bioplastics.pdf 4. Helena Wedin, C. Gupta, Pailak Mzikian, F. Englund, R. Hornbuckle, Vittoria Troppenz, Lucijan Kobal, M. Costi, D. Ellams, & S. Olsson (2017). Title : Can automated NIR technology be a way to improve the sorting quality of textile waste ? In 5. Lorber, K., Kreindl, G., Erdin, E., & Sarptaş, H. (2015). Waste Management Options for Biobased Polymeric Composites. In 6. Zhu, S., Chen, H., Wang, M., Guo, X., Lei, Y., & Jin, G. (2019). Plastic solid waste identification system based on near infrared spectroscopy in combination with support vector machine. Advanced Industrial and Engineering Polymer Research, 2(2), 77–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aiepr.2019.04.001 Introduction: • Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technology vastly used in waste sorting4,6. • Bioplastics market share increasing gradually1,2,3. • Currently, Group 1 bioplastics are incinerated1,3,5. • No present research on sorting of PHB using NIR sorter. • Research Question: Whether the NIR spectrum of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) coincide with the spectra of polylactic acid (PLA) and the 6 selected conventional plastics, and whether they could be sorted out from the mixed plastic fraction? Summary: • ESR 7 of Circular Plastics Network for Training (C-PlaNeT) project. • Research is focused on improving capture of Group 1 bioplastics via waste collection and sorting. 3 Bioplastic Groups Source: European Bioplastics Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Evaluation of a near-infrared sorting system for bio-based and biodegradable plastics Namrata Mhaddolkar, Daniel Vollprecht Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz-Josef-Str. 18, A-8700 Leoben The project C-PlaNeT has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska Curie grant agreement No. 859885. Namrata Mhaddolkar namrata.mhaddolkar@unileoben.ac.at Samples used: PHB