{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T23:44:21Z","timestamp":1790207061892,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Plastics represent one of the biggest challenges related to the circular economy (CE) and sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this study, both the virgin and mechanically recycled versions of three traditional petroleum-based polymers, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are compared. For that, an investigation of the different mechanical, chemical and thermal properties was conducted. Additionally, the life cycle eco-indicators were studied for each case. Finally, correlations between all of the factors were studied in order to get a more comprehensive understanding of how the properties influence one another.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym18182185","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T11:23:51Z","timestamp":1788866631000},"page":"2185","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Comparison of Recycled Polymers with Their Virgin Counterparts: Properties and Eco-Indicators"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Carmen","family":"Alonso Herr","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Ingenier\u00eda Qu\u00edmica Industrial y del Medio Ambiente, Escuela T\u00e9cnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid ETSII-UPM, C\/Jos\u00e9 Guti\u00e9rrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1816-011X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marina P.","family":"Arrieta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Ingenier\u00eda Qu\u00edmica Industrial y del Medio Ambiente, Escuela T\u00e9cnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid ETSII-UPM, C\/Jos\u00e9 Guti\u00e9rrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Grupo de Pol\u00edmeros, Caracterizaci\u00f3n y Aplicaciones (POLCA), C\/Jos\u00e9 Guti\u00e9rrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"CIME, Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Materiales Estructurales de la Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid, C\/Profesor Aranguren 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"European Union (2024). 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