IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i3p986-d1577064.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Characterization of the Municipal Plastic and Multilayer Packaging Waste in Three Cities of the Baltic States

Author

Listed:
  • Pavlo Lyshtva

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate Tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia)

  • Artūras Torkelis

    (Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilėnų pl. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Yaroslav Kobets

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate Tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia)

  • Estefania Carpio-Vallejo

    (Research and Transfer Centre Sustainability & Climate Change Management (FTZ-NK), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Andrea Dobri

    (Research and Transfer Centre Sustainability & Climate Change Management (FTZ-NK), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Jelena Barbir

    (Research and Transfer Centre Sustainability & Climate Change Management (FTZ-NK), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Viktoria Voronova

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate Tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia)

  • Gintaras Denafas

    (Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilėnų pl. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Linas Kliucininkas

    (Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilėnų pl. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania)

Abstract

The composition of plastic and multilayer packaging waste was assessed in the mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) streams of the Kaunas (Lithuania), Daugavpils (Latvia) and Tallinn (Estonia) municipalities. For the analysis of samples in the mixed MSW streams, the authors used manual sorting and a visual recognition method. Composition analysis of plastic and multilayer packaging waste from separately collected waste of multi-family and single-family households was performed in the Kaunas and Tallinn municipalities. For the analysis of samples in the separately collected waste streams, the research group combined manual sorting and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy methods. The findings reveal that the percentage distribution of plastic and multilayer packaging waste within the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream is relatively consistent across the municipalities of Kaunas, Daugavpils and Tallinn, comprising 40.16%, 36.83% and 35.09%, respectively. However, a notable variation emerges when examining separately collected plastic and multilayer packaging waste streams. In this category, the proportion of plastic and multilayer packaging within the total separately collected packaging waste stream ranges from 62.05% to 74.7% for multi-family residential buildings and from 44.66% to 56.89% for single-family residential buildings. The authors provided further insights for the enhanced recycling potential of different plastic materials through improved sorting.

Suggested Citation

  • Pavlo Lyshtva & Artūras Torkelis & Yaroslav Kobets & Estefania Carpio-Vallejo & Andrea Dobri & Jelena Barbir & Viktoria Voronova & Gintaras Denafas & Linas Kliucininkas, 2025. "Characterization of the Municipal Plastic and Multilayer Packaging Waste in Three Cities of the Baltic States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:986-:d:1577064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/3/986/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/3/986/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2012. "Geography of waste as a new approach in waste management study," MPRA Paper 61343, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2012.
    2. Nadezhda Blagoeva & Vanya Georgieva & Delyana Dimova, 2023. "Relationship between GDP and Municipal Waste: Regional Disparities and Implication for Waste Management Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-23, October.
    3. Artūras Torkelis & Jolanta Dvarionienė & Gintaras Denafas, 2024. "The Factors Influencing the Recycling of Plastic and Composite Packaging Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-30, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2012. "Quantitative assessment method of illegal dumping în small rivers. Case study: Neamt County, Romania," MPRA Paper 61455, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2012.
    2. Florin-Constantin Mihai & Ana-Maria Oiste & Dan-Adrian Chelaru, 2014. "Rural waste generation : a geographical survey at local scale," Post-Print hal-01167245, HAL.
    3. Florin-Constantin Mihai, 2013. "Quantitative assessment of household waste disposed in floodplains of rivers from extra-Carpathian region of Neamț county, Romania," Post-Print hal-01167230, HAL.
    4. Salim Yılmaz & Ahmet Murat Günal & Gizem Köse & Murat Baş, 2025. "The Environmental and Economic Dynamics of Food Waste and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Causal Time Series Analysis from 2000 to 2022," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-26, January.
    5. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2013. "Performance assessment method of urban waste management systems from Neamț County, Romania," MPRA Paper 61286, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2013.
    6. Paunić, Alida, 2016. "Brazil, Preservation of Forest and Biodiversity," MPRA Paper 71462, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Hossein Komasi & Amir Karbassi Yazdi & Mohammad Eskandari Sani & Yong Tan, 2024. "Assessing the Circular Economy in Regions of Chile by Using Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, December.
    8. Mihai, Florin-Constantin & Apostol, Liviu & Ursu, Adrian & Ichim, Pavel, 2013. "Landfills as anthropogenic landforms in urban environment from Neamţ county," MPRA Paper 61371, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2013.
    9. Mihai, Florin-Constantin & Ichim, Pavel, 2013. "Landfills – territorial issues of cities from North-East Region, Romania," MPRA Paper 61369, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2013.
    10. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2013. "Development of MSW collection services on regional scale : spatial analysis and urban disparities in North-East Region, Romania," MPRA Paper 61501, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2013.
    11. Mihai, Florin-Constantin & Apostol, Liviu & Chelaru, Dan-Adrian & Ursu, Adrian, 2013. "EU acquis compliance on urban waste management. Case study: Piatra Neamt, Romania," MPRA Paper 62378, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2013.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:986-:d:1577064. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.