This study focused on evaluating the mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) hybrid mineral-filled composites containing fine acicular wollastonite, mica phlogopite, and talc platelets. Depending on the filler content, both single mineral-filled composites as well as hybrid mineral–filler composites were investigated. The maximum nominal filler content was set to 20% by weight with varying ratios for combinations of the wollastonite–mica and wollastonite–talc composites, respectively. Aside from the tensile, compression, and flexural properties, the heat distortion temperature and degree of crystallinity were carried out. Moreover, the dynamical response of the hybrid mineral-filled composites on different frequencies (1 Hz, 2 Hz, 5 Hz, and 10 Hz) was considered. By using scanning electron microscope photography, the fracture surface and the morphology of the composite material were observed. The results demonstrated enhanced stiffness, strengths, and thermal stability for all hybrid mineral-filled composites. In particular, the wollastonite–talc-filled RPET composites revealed a good compatibility and showed the most beneficial results.

The manufacturing of products is connected to environmental impacts due to material and energy demands. One central strategy towards reducing these impacts is establishing circular material flows by reintegrating end of life products as raw materials for production processes. Sustainable manufacturing aims for raising the share of recycled material, while primary resources are only covering losses during use phase and recycling. Hence, the transition towards circular economy requires considerations of end-of-life treatment and recyclability. However, the recyclability of materials depends on several influencing factors and typically degrades over time as ageing occurs. For this purpose, assessment methods for the actual quality of available materials are required providing decision support for identification of the best recycling route. Against this background, a framework is presented for determining the recyclability of plastic materials over time, which incorporates decision criteria for up-, and down-recycling process routes and links this information with material quality and material degradation over time. Subsequently, it is shown that the recyclability of plastics is dependent on its age and that a point can be defined as EoR (End of Recyclability), which can support decision making on integrating recycled materials in manufacturing.

Marine plastic waste from fisheries has emerged as a significant environmental issue, posing a significant threat to marine biodiversity and ecosystem health. The material recycling of fishing gear is an effective way to reduce waste and promote a circular economy. This study examines the characteristics of virgin and used fishing nets and ropes to understand their recyclability before they are discarded. The used nets and ropes in this study were in service for up to two years. The material characteristics were identified based on Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy while thermal properties were obtained using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Based on FTIR results, the main polymer of the fishing nets was found to be PE, while the fishing ropes were found to be a blend of PE/PP and a combination of PE/PP and PET. The aging and oxidation process produces new bands in the infrared (IR) spectra of PE and PP fishing nets and ropes. The significant differences between used and virgin materials were also obtained in terms of crystallization enthalpies. This suggests that the fishing nets and ropes were affected by environmental factors.

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a global challenge that negatively affects marine ecosystems and fishers’ livelihoods. Survey results from 1864 capture fishers in Vietnam show that the total mass of ALDFG is 82,720 kg/year, with an average loss rate of 0.24% of the total plastic used. The average ALDFG mass from gillnet fisheries is 26.0 ± 1.2 kg/vessel/year, trap fisheries 16.1 ± 2.6 kg/vessel/year, hook and line fisheries 13.8 ± 1.4 kg/vessel/year, trawl fisheries 8.8 ± 1.1 kg/vessel/year, stick-held falling net fisheries 5.1 ± 2.1 kg/vessel/year, and purse seine fisheries 4.2 ± 1.4 kg/vessel/year. Polyethylene (PE) accounts for 47.4%, polyamide (PA) 29.5% and polypropylene (PP) 17.2% of the total ALDFG mass. Results from the selected partial proportional odds model show that fishers’ concern about ALDFG increases with education, fishing experience, vessel length, and stronger awareness of environmental and economic impacts, whereas age, days at sea, perceived navigation hazards, and perceived impacts on fish stocks are negatively associated with concern; perceived tourism impacts show a statistically significant threshold-varying effect across concern levels. These findings provide a scientific basis for developing sustainable fishing-gear management policies, aiming to reduce marine plastic pollution in Vietnam. These findings provide evidence for conservation-oriented fishing-gear management in Vietnam by identifying the gear types and fisher perceptions most relevant to reducing ghost fishing, marine plastic leakage, and risks to marine biodiversity and coastal ecosystems.

The collective architecture of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) assigns financial obligations to Producer Responsibility Organisations, severing the link between individual producer design decisions and end-of-life costs — eliminating the upstream design incentive that constitutes EPR's theoretical rationale for environmental management. This paper argues that Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) — wherein end-of-life liability is assigned directly and proportionally to the originating producer — represents the regulatory precondition for a structurally coherent system of Consumer-Integrated Environmental Protection (CIEP): a four-level applied environmental management architecture (Design–Regulation–Behaviour–System) in which IPR activates recyclable product design, consumer disposal guidance, and transnational waste governance simultaneously. Three applied research projects provide convergent evidence. ToCoReRaM (Level 1) demonstrates through PRISMA-compliant systematic review and 14 SME interviews that only 2 of 23 circular economy tools are discoverably accessible in standard search behaviour, establishing that IPR creates design obligations without compliance pathways unless SME-operable tools are mandated. WERTIS-KI (Level 3) deploys AI-based image recognition achieving approximately 75% classification accuracy to bridge the attitude–behaviour gap in household waste sorting, generating product-level missorting data that IPR eco-modulation requires. REVFIN (Level 4) demonstrates closed-loop fishing gear recovery feasibility in Vietnam, introduces 'end of recyclability' as a temporally bounded material property requiring incorporation into environmental governance design, and models replicable governance transfer. Effective waste and marine litter management requires simultaneous deployment of IPR-based accountability, SME-operable tools, digital consumer guidance, and context-sensitive governance capacity — mutually reinforcing instruments constituting a minimum viable environmental management architecture directly addressing SDG 12 (responsible consumption and waste) and SDG 14 (life below water).