Since millions of tons of packaging material cannot be recycled in conventional ways, most of it ends up in landfills or even dumped into the natural environment. The researched methods of chemical depolymerization therefore open a new perspective for the recycling of various PET materials, which are especially important for packaging. Food preservative packaging materials made from PET plastics are complex, and their wastes are often contaminated, so there are no sophisticated solutions for them in the recycling industry. After integrating the biopolymer chitosan, which is derived from natural chitin, as an active surface additive in PET materials, we discovered that it not only enriches the packaging material as a microbial inhibitor to reduce the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, thus extending the shelf life of the contained food, but also enables economical chemical recycling by alkaline or neutral hydrolysis, which is an environmentally friendly process. Alkaline hydrolysis at a high temperature and pressure completely depolymerizes chitosan-coated PET packaging materials into pure terephthalic acid and charcoal. The products were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The resulting reusable material represents raw materials in chemical, plastic, textile, and other industries, in addition to the antimicrobial function and recyclability itself.

The pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought many challenges in the field of personal protective equipment. The amount of disposable surgical masks (DSMs) consumed increased dramatically, and much of it was improperly disposed of, i.e., it entered the environment. For this reason, it is crucial to accurately analyze the waste and identify all the hazards it poses. Therefore, in the present work, a DSM was disassembled, and gravimetric analysis of representative DSM waste was performed, along with detailed infrared spectroscopy of the individual parts and in-depth analysis of the waste. Due to the potential water contamination by micro/nanoplastics and also by other harmful components of DSMs generated during the leaching and photodegradation process, the xenon test and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure were used to analyze and evaluate the leaching of micro/nanoplastics. Micro/nanoplastic particles were leached from all five components of the mask in an aqueous medium. Exposed to natural conditions, a DSM loses up to 30% of its mass in just 1 month, while micro/nanoplastic particles are formed by the process of photodegradation. Improperly treated DSMs pose a potential hazardous risk to the environment due to the release of micro/nanoparticles and chloride ion content.

The production of personal protective equipment (PPE) has increased dramatically in recent years, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of stricter legislation in the field of Employee Protection. The increasing use of PPE, including disposable surgical masks (DSMs), is putting additional pressure on waste collectors. For this reason, it is necessary to find high-quality solutions for this type of waste. Mechanical recycling is still the most common type of recycling, but the recyclates are often classified as low-grade materials. For this reason, a detailed analysis of the recyclates is necessary. These data will help us to improve the properties and find the right end application that will increase the value of the materials. This work represents an extended analysis of the recyclates obtained from DSMs, manufactured from different polymers. Using surface and morphology tests, we have gained insights into the distribution of different polymers in polymer blends and their effects on mechanical and surface properties. It was found that the addition of ear loop material to the PP melt makes the material tougher. In the polymer blends obtained, PP and PA 6 form the surface (affects surface properties), while PU and PET are distributed mainly inside the injection-molded samples.

The increasing use of carbon fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) has intensified the need for efficient recycling technologies capable of recovering high-value carbon fibres from end-of-life composites. This study compares neutral and alkaline hydrolysis for recycling epoxy-based CFRPs under identical conditions (250 °C, 37–40 bar). CFRP waste generated during the manufacture of Formula Student race car components was treated in deionised water or 1.04 M NaOH for 60 or 120 min. Matrix degradation and fibre recovery were evaluated by gravimetric analysis, pH and conductivity measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Neutral hydrolysis resulted in only 4.5% mass loss and limited matrix degradation. In contrast, alkaline hydrolysis achieved mass losses of 34.2% and 38.7% after 60 and 120 min, respectively, with more extensive matrix removal observed after the longer treatment. Under strongly alkaline conditions, hydroxide ions can promote the cleavage of susceptible bonds within the epoxy network, facilitating matrix depolymerisation and removal. After 60 min, partial matrix removal was observed, whereas 120 min resulted in nearly complete matrix removal and successful carbon fibres recovery. FTIR, SEM, and XRD confirmed effective matrix removal while preserving fibre morphology and crystalline structure. The results demonstrate that alkaline hydrolysis is significantly more effective than neutral hydrolysis for recycling epoxy-based CFRPs and highlight the importance of combining complementary analytical techniques to reliably evaluate recycling efficiency.