Environmental and social assessment of fiber-reinforced composites from recycled bottle caps and banana rachis waste in the Canary Islands

Environmental and social assessment of fiber-reinforced composites from recycled bottle caps and banana rachis waste in the Canary Islands | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Environmental and social assessment of fiber-reinforced composites from recycled bottle caps and banana rachis waste in the Canary Islands Cristina Campos Herrero, Giuseppe Cecere, Lucia Rigamonti, Francisco Javier Espinach, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9714256/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study evaluates the environmental and social sustainability of plastic composites reinforced with banana fibers, developed within the CICEP project to address two major challenges in the Canary Islands: low plastic recycling rates and the disposal of banana waste. The composite combines recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with short fibers extracted from banana rachis, improving mechanical properties and promoting circular resource use. Researchers validated the process at laboratory scale and advanced it to pilot stage (TRL 4). Environmental impacts were analyzed through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using the EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method. The results show that the retting stage generates the highest impacts in most categories because of intensive water use and wastewater treatment, while fossil resource use mainly stems from the thermomechanical stage, followed by transport. Mitigation strategies include closed-loop water reuse in retting, higher energy efficiency in thermomechanical operations, and composting of by-products already practiced in the Canary Islands. The Social Risk Assessment, based on working hours and the PSILCA database, identified potential social hotspots at this early technology stage and emphasized the importance of applying S-LCA to low-TRL processes. Overall, the study highlights both the challenges and the potential of banana rachis fiber composites to support circular economy strategies in insular regions. Environmental Engineering Social Policy Agricultural Economics & Policy Food Science & Technology Banana rachis fibers Recycled HDPE composites Circular economy Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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