Long-term properties and end-of-life of polymers from renewable resources

- The long-term properties and the end-of-life of polymers are not antagonist issues.
- The duality between durability and degradation is key for the sustainable design.
- Design, production, valorisation and disposal of bio-based polymers are strategic.
- End-of-life of a material for an application, instead of end-of-life of a material.
- Material, energetic and biological valorisations must be smartly combined.

The long-term properties and end-of-life of polymers are not antagonist issues. They actually are inherently linked by the duality between durability and degradation. The control of the service-to-disposal pathway at useful performance, along with low-impact disposal represents an added-value. Therefore, the routes of design, production, and discarding of bio-based polymers must be carefully strategized. In this sense, the combination of proper valorisation techniques, i.e. material, energetic and/or biological at the most appropriate stage should be targeted. Thus, the consideration of the end-of-life of a material for a specific application, instead of the end-of-life of a material should be the fundamental focus. This review covers the key aspects of lab-scale techniques to infer the potential of performance and valorisation of polymers from renewable resources as a key gear for sustainability.

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