Macro Marine Plastic Debris Recycling

This study aims to experimentally assess the potential of incorporating reclaimed marine debris of a plastic nature into virgin plastic grades to mimic recycling procedures and to study the resultant recylates. The viability through the lens of industrial recycling procedures and environmental potential is studied. In this work, we have collected and characterized marine plastic waste (PW) debris from the Kuwait Bay offshore area. This waste included polypropylene (PP) from a commercial rice bag, polyamide (PA) from a fishing net; and polyethylene (PE) from a plastic bag. All debris underwent mechanical recycling using twin-screw compounding after cleaning and processing it. PW was incorporated at a 30% weight ratio into the virgin PE matrix to produce recyclate blends. Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy was employed to confirm the polymer types of marine plastic wastes. Following compounding and injection molding, the properties of the resulting specimens were extensively analyzed. Investigations were conducted using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), tensile stress measurements for mechanical properties profiling, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to assess the thermal stability, crystallization behavior and melting, tensile stress, and morphological characteristics of the specimens, respectively. The final products were evaluated for their physical and thermal properties and compared against market grades of plastic film products. To the best of our knowledge, this comprehensive study is the first of its kind and paves the way to showcase the potential of reclamation and valorization of macro marine debris PW for future applications.