Co-Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste and Lignin: A Pathway for Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery

Vilmantė Kudelytė, Justas Eimontas (), Rolandas Paulauskas and Nerijus Striūgas
Additional contact information
Vilmantė Kudelytė: Laboratory of Combustion Processes, Lithuanian Energy Institute, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Justas Eimontas: Laboratory of Combustion Processes, Lithuanian Energy Institute, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Rolandas Paulauskas: Laboratory of Combustion Processes, Lithuanian Energy Institute, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Nerijus Striūgas: Laboratory of Combustion Processes, Lithuanian Energy Institute, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: Various plastics and biomass wastes, such as polypropylene (PP), low- or high-density polyethylene (LDPE/HDPE), and lignin, have become some of the most concerning wastes nowadays. In this context, this study aimed to investigate the possibility of applying thermochemical processes for the valorization of these materials. The experiments were carried out using a thermogravimetric analyzer on individual plastic and lignin samples and their mixtures at different mass ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4. The gaseous products evolved during the pyrolysis process were analyzed by combined thermogravimetric and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) and chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to analyze the functional groups and chemical composition of the obtained pyrolysis products. The results showed that the main functional groups of lignin monitored by TG-FTIR were aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, while all plastics showed the same results for hydrocarbons. The investigation confirmed that mixing these types of plastics with lignin at different mass ratios led to increased recovery of higher-value-added products. Py-GC/MS analysis showed that the greatest results of compound recovery were achieved with lignin and LDPE/HDPE mixtures at 600 °C. At this temperature and with a mass ratio of 1:3, the plastic’s radicals enhanced the depolymerization of lignin, encouraging its wider decomposition to hydrocarbons that can be applied for the production of value-added chemicals and bio-based energy.

Keywords: plastic; waste; lignin; conversion; hydrocarbons; co-pyrolysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/2/275/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/2/275/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:2:p:275-:d:1563775

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().