Guest Editors
Prof. Wan-Ting (Grace) Chen, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
Prof. Grace Chen is the director of the Plastic & Environment Research Laboratory (PERL) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her research group has extensive experience in the chemical recycling of plastic waste, biodegradable plastic material, and biowaste conversion processes.
Prof. Hui Jin, Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
Prof. Hui Jin’s research fields focuses on a poly-generation technology based on coal gasification for hydrogen production, power generation and heat supply (Steaming coal with supercritical water gasification), the harmless treatment and resource utilization of biomass and organic wastes, theory in multiphase flow in thermochemistry.He has published more than 90 papers with more than 2000 citations with an h-index 27. In addition, 5 first-authored papers of his have been selected as ESI top papers (1 hot paper). Prof. Jin also has public or authorized 15 patents and 12 invited talks.
Prof. Syang-Peng Rwei, Professor, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Prof. Syang-Peng Rwei is a well-known expert in polymer synthesis, fiber spinning, melt rheology, fabric coating and pigment dispersion area. Prof. Rwei has been served as a distinguished professor at Institute of Organic and Polymeric Materials at National Taipei University of Technology since 2013. Prof. Rwei obtained his PhD in Case Western Reserve University, M.S. in Clarkson University, and B.S. in National Taiwan University. Prof. Rwei has also worked in the fiber R&D department at BASF before returning to academia. He has published more than 75 papers with more than 2000 citations with an h-index 24.
Prof. Shaoqing Cui, Assistant Professor, the University of Tennessee –Knoxville, USA
Prof. Cui is an assistant professor of the Center for Renewable Carbon at the University of Tennessee –Knoxville. Her primary research areas focus on bio-based products derived from biomass materials, biodegradable plastics, and CO
2 utilization.
Summary
More than eight billion tons of plastic waste has accumulated worldwide over the past 50 years. The majority (80%) of the waste goes directly into landfills and 3% ends up in the oceans. At the current rate, we will end up having more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Plastics are persistent in the environment and degrade slowly (over a century), releasing fragments, microplastics, and toxic chemicals into our lands, rivers, and oceans. In particular, single-use packaging, textile, and composite plastic such as e-waste are attributed to more than 50% of the plastic waste.
The overall goal of this special issue is to shed light on the area of plastic waste management. Topics of interest include but not limited to mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, biodegradation, micro-/nano-plastic, characterization methods for plastic waste, policy analysis, techno-economic and lifecycle analysis of plastic waste management. New knowledge reported in this special issue will provide guidance for sustainable development as well as future manufacturing of plastic products.
Keywords
Plastic recycling; Waste management; Microplastic; Plastic additives; Life cycle analysis; Circular economy
Published Papers
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