Recovery of plastic packaging from mixed municipal solid waste. A case study from Austria.

Austria must recycle more packaging materials. Especially for plastic packaging waste, significant increases are necessary to reach the EU recycling targets for 2025 and 2030. In addition to improving separate collection and introducing a deposit system for specific fractions, the share of plastic packaging in mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) could be utilized. In Austria, about 1.8milliontonnes of mixed MSW are generated. This includes about 110,000 t/a of plastic packaging waste. Most of the mixed MSW (94 %) is sent directly or via residues from pre-treatment, such as mechanical-biological treatment or waste sorting, to waste incineration. While materials such as glass and metals can also be recovered from the bottom ash, combustible materials such as plastics must be recovered before incineration. This work aims to evaluate the recovery potential of plastic packaging waste in mixed MSW with automated waste sorting. For this purpose, two of the largest Austrian waste sorting plants, with a total annual throughput of about 280,000 t/a, were investigated. The investigation included regular sampling of selected output streams and sorting analysis. The results show that the theoretical recovery potential of plastic packaging from these two plants is 6,500 t/a on average. An extrapolation to Austria results in a potential of about 83,000 t/a. If losses due to further treatment, such as sorting and recycling, are considered, about 30,000 t/a of recyclate could be returned to plastic production. This would correspond to an increase in plastic packaging recycling rate from 25 % to 35 %.

Quality comparison of plastic packaging waste from different separation systems: Result enhancement with non-negative matrix factorization of FTIR spectra.

Whether plastic packaging waste is disposed of in different bins (source separation, S) or in a single bin (post source separation, P) is generally assumed to impact the waste stream's quality. To elucidate this question, we evaluated the quality of LDPE, HDPE, and PP plastic waste from both separation systems (S and P) through a concise analytical strategy. The materials received similar treatment after collection (e.g., washing, NIR-sorting). A multivariate approach to ATR-FTIR spectroscopy was developed to assess their material composition and the effect of washing. Results were complemented by TGA, DSC, and py-GC/MS analysis. The material performance was investigated by a lab-scale extrusion and granulation, followed by an assessment of the mechanical properties and the melt volume rate. Our study reveals the HDPE materials to be of good quality, regardless of their source. For LDPE and PP, the P-materials are fractionally more contaminated after washing. Both PP-materials display poor material performance with highly fluctuating elongations-at-break (between 30% and 380%). S-LDPE was found to contain more polymeric impurities than P-LDPE. We conclude that the quality depends strongly on the material type and on the treatment after collection (washing, sorting). The multivariate approach to FTIR data evaluation we propose aims at simplifying the quality evaluation of polyolefin waste plastics and may serve as a basis for future work in this field.

Analysis of microplastics in commercial vegetable edible oils from Italy and Spain.

In this work, assessment of microplastics (MPs) in commercial vegetable edible oils from Italy and Spain, including extra-virgin olive oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, and mixed seed oil, has been conducted for the first time. The method was based on sample dilution with ethanol:n-hexane (1:3, v/v), homogenization, vacuum filtration on macroporous silicon filters with 5 µm pore diameter to collect MPs, and automatic µ-FTIR spectroscopy for MPs detection and characterization. In the analysis of oil samples, a mean MPs abundance of 1140 ± 350 MPs/L was found. Observed MPs were characterized, being most of them fragments (81.2 %), with particle sizes < 100 µm (77.5 %), and mainly composed of polyethylene (50.3 %) and polypropylene (28.7 %), among others. Statistical analysis revealed that there were not significant differences (p-value > 0.05) in the abundance of MPs between oil samples or types.

Catalytic upcycling of post-consumer multilayered plastic packaging wastes for the selective production of monoaromatic hydrocarbons.

In order to obtain extended storage life of food-grade materials and better barrier properties against environmental factors, a multilayer plastic packaging (MLP) is often used. The multilayer packaging plastics are labelled as "other" (SPI#7) category, and are manufactured with a combination of barrier plastics, rigid plastics and printing surface. Owing to their complex composition and difficulty in separating the layers of MLP, its mechanical recycling is challenging. In this study, MLP wastes (MLPWs) were collected from zero-waste garbage collection center of IIT Madras, India, and thoroughly characterized to determine their composition and plastic types. MLPWs were characterized using various physico-chemical methods such as thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, bomb calorimetry, and proximate and ultimate analyses. The MLPWs were mainly made up of polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Further, the non-catalytic and zeolite-catalyzed fast pyrolysis of these MLPWs were studied using analytical pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (Py-GC/MS). The non-catalytic fast pyrolysis of MLPWs primarily produced a mixture of aliphatic and alicyclic hydrocarbons, while zeolite catalyzed fast pyrolysis resulted in the formation of mono-aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs). The activity of HZSM-5, zeolite Y (HY) and zeolite beta (Hß) catalysts were evaluated, and the salient products were quantified. The yields of MAHs like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene using the zeolites followed the trend: HZSM-5 (14.9 wt%) > HY (8.1 wt%) > Hß (7.8 wt%), at 650 °C. The use of HZSM-5 resulted in highest yield of MAHs, viz. 16.1 wt%, at the optimum temperature of 550 °C and MLPW-to-catalyst ratio of 1:15 (w/w). The superior activity of HZSM-5 is due to its nominal acidity and larger pore size of 4.24 nm, as compared to HY and Hß. The MAHs yield from three other types of MLPWs varied in the range of 9-16 wt%. The present study demonstrates a promising pathway for the catalytic upcycling of highly heterogeneous MLPWs in the context of circular economy.

Uncovering environmental performance patterns of plastic packaging waste in high recovery rate countries: An example of EU-27.

Plastic consumption and its end-of-life management pose a significant environmental footprint and are energy intensive. Waste-to-resources and prevention strategies have been promoted widely in Europe as countermeasures; however, their effectiveness remains uncertain. This study aims to uncover the environmental footprint patterns of the plastics value chain in the European Union Member States (EU-27) through exploratory data analysis with dimension reduction and grouping. Nine variables are assessed, ranging from socioeconomic and demographic to environmental impacts. Three clusters are formed according to the similarity of a range of characteristics (nine), with environmental impacts being identified as the primary influencing variable in determining the clusters. Most countries belong to Cluster 0, consisting of 17 countries in 2014 and 18 countries in 2019. They represent clusters with a relatively low global warming potential (GWP), with an average value of 2.64 t CO2eq/cap in 2014 and 4.01 t CO2eq/cap in 2019. Among all the assessed countries, Denmark showed a significant change when assessed within the traits of EU-27, categorised from Cluster 1 (high GWP) in 2014 to Cluster 0 (low GWP) in 2019. The analysis of plastic packaging waste statistics in 2019 (data released in 2022) shows that, despite an increase in the recovery rate within the EU-27, the GWP has not reduced, suggesting a rebound effect. The GWP tends to increase in correlation with the higher plastic waste amount. In contrast, other environmental impacts, like eutrophication, abiotic and acidification potential, are identified to be mitigated effectively via recovery, suppressing the adverse effects of an increase in plastic waste generation. The five-year interval data analysis identified distinct clusters within a set of patterns, categorising them based on their similarities. The categorisation and managerial insights serve as a foundation for devising a focused mitigation strategy.

Characterization, environmental impact and reduction strategies for the delivery food waste generated by urban and township residents in Jiuquan, China.

Patterns and effects of delivery food waste (DFW) in small cities remain unknown. Therefore, a case study was, for the first time conducted targeting residents of a typical small city (Jiuquan, China) using direct weighing (511 samples or 843 orders) and a questionnaire survey (471 samples). The results showed that the vast majority of DFW was avoidable (approximately 79 % of the total), meaning a high level of wasting food derived from residents for such a small city, and the associated emission of avoidable DFW was primarily attributed to its upstream stage (approximately 81 % of the total), indicating that it is more significant environmental benefit in the prevention and reducing waste than its final management. The amount of DFW generated by urban residents was significantly higher than that of township residents (213 ± 132 vs 145 g/cap/order, P < 0.01), and age was found to be the most important factor determining DFW, especially in groups II & III (20-30 and 30-40 years old). Thus, mitigation strategies targeting young urban residents have the greatest overall effect. Plastic packaging waste also represents a large component of total DFW (19 %), and replacing plastic tableware with sharing tableware can be an effective waste reduction strategy.

Study on Cavitation, Warpage Deformation, and Moisture Diffusion of Sop-8 Devices during Molding Process.

Plastic packaging has shown its advantages over ceramic packaging and metal packaging in lightweight, thin, and high-density electronic devices. In this paper, the reliability and moisture diffusion of Sop-8 (Small Out-Line Package-8) plastic packaging devices are studied, and we put forward a set of complete optimization methods. Firstly, we propose to improve the reliability of plastic packaging devices by reducing the amount of cavitation and warpage deformation. Structural and process factors were investigated in the injection molding process. An orthogonal experiment design was used to create 25 groups of simulation experiments, and Moldflow software was used to simulate the flow mode analysis. Then, the simulation results are subjected to range analysis and comprehensive weighted score analysis. Finally, different optimization methods are proposed according to different production conditions, and each optimization method can reduce cavitation or warpage by more than 9%. The moisture diffusion of the Sop-8 plastic packing devices was also investigated at the same time. It was determined that the contact surface between the lead frame and the plastic packaging material was more likely to exhibit delamination under the condition of MSL2 moisture diffusion because the humidity gradient was easily produced at the crucial points of different materials. The diffusion of moisture is related to the type of plastic packaging material and the diffusion path.

How to achieve ambitious recycling targets for plastic packaging waste? The environmental impact of increased waste separation and sorting in Norway.

Driven by European legislation, counties must improve their plastic packaging recycling system to meet ambitious recycling targets. This study analyses the current plastic packaging recycling system in Norway, together with three alternative systems and evaluates their performance on environmental impact and achievement of policy indicators. The alternative systems include measures to increase separation of plastic packaging waste and to increase plastic sorting capacity in Norway. A lower impact on climate change (between 531 kg and 874 kg CO2 eq. compared to the current system) was obtained for scenarios with high separation of plastic packaging waste. Without better waste separation, increased sorting in Norway resulted in a higher impact on climate change (between 46 kg and 123 kg CO2 eq.) compared to the current system. Mixed-waste MRFs can help to obtain high recycling rates, but their implementation should be coordinated centrally to avoid potential adverse effects. Furthermore, none of the proposed systems reached the recycling rate targets, showing that improvements are necessary across the entire value chain.

Microplastics and phthalate esters release from teabags into tea drink: occurrence, human exposure, and health risks.

Tea, the most common infusion worldwide, is usually sold in teabags due to the ease of usage. The increase in the use of plastic materials in the food packaging industry has led to an increase in released contaminants, such as microplastics (MPs) and phthalates (PAEs), in various food products including teabags. In this research, the abundance and features of MPs as well as PAEs concentration were investigated in 45 teabag samples of different Persian and German brands. The abundance of MPs in the Persian and German teabag samples was averagely 412.32 and 147.28 items/single teabag, respectively. Also, average PAEs levels in the Persian and German teabag samples were 2.87 and 2.37 mg/g, respectively. The predominant size category of MPs was related to 100-250 µm. Fibers and transparent were the dominant shape and color of detected MPs in teabags, respectively. Polyethylene (PE) and nylon were the most common MP polymer types. The most prominent PAEs congeners in teabag samples were diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP). Furthermore, MP exposure hazard through tea ingestion was analyzed for children and adults. DEHP showed the cancer risk (CR) for children and adults. The findings of this research indicated that high MPs and PAEs levels are released from teabags into tea drinks. Considering a daily drinking of a volume of 150 and 250 mL tea by children and adults, 486 and 810 MPs may enter their bodies, respectively. Thus, tea prepared with teabag-packed herbs may pose a significant health risk for consumers.

Evaluation and identification of chemical migrants leached from baby food pouch packaging.

Multilayer plastic pouch (MLPP) has an estimated 9% annual increase of market growth. However, the migrants it can introduce to food has not yet been systematically studied. A total of 79 MLPPs for baby food were purchased from major retail outlets in Australia. The methodology for testing chemical migration followed the design of previous studies using four types of selected simulants according to the European Committee Regulation No. 10/2011 method. Four bisphenols and five phthalic acid diesters (PAEs) were detected, including the ones known for endocrine disrupting effect in human. Three intentionally added and 23 non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) were tentatively identified through a suspect screening procedure. Out of the 23 NIAS, neopentyl glycol - phthalic acid - 1,6-hexanediol - phthalic acid oligomer was identified for the first time with MLPP. A further two NIAS were detected for the first time in baby food related products. For 40% of the pouches where adipic acid - diethylene glycol was detected, the estimated exposure from consuming one pouch of food per day may exceed the threshold of toxicological concern established based on the Cramer classification.

Separation and Characterization of Plastic Waste Packaging Contaminated with Food Residues.

In this paper, we present the development of a novel processing technology to tackle hard-to-recycle plastic packaging waste contaminated with food residues. The proof-of-concept (POC) technology can effectively separate food residual amounts from plastic waste materials to a level acceptable for further re-use or recycling of the plastic packaging. To assess this technology, we have conducted spectroscopic, thermal, and calorimetric characterizations of the obtained fractions, such as cleaned mixed plastics (CMP), food waste with mixed plastics (FWMP), and a mixture of microplastics (MP). The analyses were carried out with the aid of Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Microcone Combustion Calorimetry (MCC), and 'bomb' calorimetry. The highest ratio of CMP to FWMP and the lowest amount of MP were obtained utilizing 700 rpm blade rotational speed and 15 s residence time of contaminated plastics in a cutting mill chamber. The plastics were freed from food contamination by 93-97%, which highlights a strong potential of the POC as a solution for 'dry-cleaning' of similar wastes on a larger scale. The main components of the CMP fraction were low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which are recyclable plastics. The knowledge and understanding of thermal degradation behaviours and calorimetric attributes of separated fractions, determined in this study, are essential in informing the industrial players using pyrolysis as a technique for recycling plastics.

Towards sustainability through the circular economy of plastic packaging waste management in Rayong Province, Thailand.

The circularity of plastic packaging waste (PPW) material via recycling is critical to its circular economy towards sustainability and carbon neutrality of society. The multi-stakeholders and complex waste recycling loop of Rayong Province, Thailand, is herein analysed using an actor-network theory to identify key actors, roles, and responsibilities in the recycling scheme. The results depict the relative function of three-actor networks, namely policy, economy, and societal networks, which play different roles in PPW handling from its generation through various separations from municipal solid wastes to recycling. The policy network comprises mainly national authorities and committees responsible for targeting and policymaking for local implementation, while economic networks are formal and informal actors acting for PPW collection with a recycling contribution of 11.3-64.1%. A societal network supports this collaboration for knowledge, technology, or funds. Two waste recycling models are classified as community-based and municipality-based management, which functions differently by coverage areas, capabilities, and process efficiency. The economic reliability of each informal sorting activity is a crucial factor for sustainability, while empowering people in environmental awareness and sorting ability at the household level is also essential, as well as law enforcement that is effective in the long-term circularity of the PPW economy.

Keep circularity meaningful, inclusive and practical: A view into the plastics value chain.

New policies to promote the circular economy have created an urgent need for businesses and public authorities to quantify and monitor the level of circularity of materials, components and products. However, flows of materials, components and products through society are inherently complex, involving intricate value chains, many stakeholders, and interests. We argue that current actions may be overly focused on superficial effects, and losing sight of true circular economy goals. Using plastic packaging as an example, the present contribution deliberates the questions, "does measuring circularity address its goals?", "does it cover new technologies and regional specificities?", and "can its goals be addressed with simple assessment approaches?". In answering these questions, we argue that there is an impending risk of cementing policy and infrastructures that may not contribute to true sustainability. Furthermore, future technologies and developing regions are hardly included in the current circularity strategies. To further spark a discussion on the challenge of simplicity, we present a scorecard which can help incumbents to approximate the level of sustainable circularity of their products.

Screening the Impact of Surfactants and Reaction Conditions on the De-Inkability of Different Printing Ink Systems for Plastic Packaging.

One of the major applications (40% in Europe) of plastic is packaging, which is often printed to display required information and to deliver an attractive aesthetic for marketing purposes. However, printing ink can cause contamination in the mechanical recycling process. To mitigate this issue, the use of surfactants in an alkaline washing process, known as de-inking, has been employed to remove printing ink and improve the quality of recyclates. Despite the existence of this technology, there are currently no data linking the de-inking efficiency with typical printing ink compositions. Additionally, it is necessary to investigate the de-inking process under the process parameters of existing recycling plants, including temperature, NaOH concentration, and retention time. This study aims to evaluate the performance of commonly used printing inks with different compositions under various washing scenarios for plastic recycling in conjunction with different de-inking detergents containing surfactants or mixtures of surfactants. The results indicate that the pigments applied to the ink have no significant effect on the de-inking process, except for carbon black (PBk 7). Nitrocellulose (NC) binder systems exhibit high de-inkability (over 95%) under the condition of 55 °C and 1 wt.% NaOH. However, crosslinked binder systems can impede the de-inking effect, whether used as a binder system or as an overprint varnish (OPV). The de-inking process requires heating to 55 °C with 1 wt.% NaOH to achieve a substantial effect. Based on the findings in this work, breaking the Van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonds, and covalent bonds between the printing ink and plastic film is an essential step to achieve the de-inking effect. Further research is needed to understand the interaction between surfactants and printing inks, enabling the development of de-inkable printing inks and high-performance surfactants that allow for de-inking with less energy consumption. The surfactant and NaOH have a synergistic effect in cleaning the printing ink. NaOH provides a negative surface charge for the adsorption of the cationic head of the surfactant and can hydrolyze the covalent bonds at higher concentrations (>2 wt.%).

Unpacking the complexity of the polyethylene food contact articles value chain: A chemicals perspective.

Polyethylene (PE) is the most widely used type of plastic food packaging, in which chemicals can potentially migrate into packaged foods. The implications of using and recycling PE from a chemical perspective remain underexplored. This study is a systematic evidence map of 116 studies looking at the migration of food contact chemicals (FCCs) across the lifecycle of PE food packaging. It identified a total of 377 FCCs, of which 211 were detected to migrate from PE articles into food or food simulants at least once. These 211 FCCs were checked against the inventory FCCs databases and EU regulatory lists. Only 25% of the detected FCCs are authorized by EU regulation for the manufacture of food contact materials. Furthermore, a quarter of authorized FCCs exceeded the specific migration limit (SML) at least once, while one-third (53) of non-authorised FCCs exceeded the threshold value of 10 µg/kg. Overall, evidence on FCCs migration across the PE food packaging lifecycle is incomplete, especially at the reprocessing stage. Considering the EU's commitment to increase packaging recycling, a better understanding and monitoring of PE food packaging quality from a chemical perspective across the entire lifecycle will enable the transition towards a sustainable plastics value chain.

Plastic packaging-associated chemicals and their hazards - An overview of reviews.

Plastic packaging contains residues from substances used during manufacturing, such as solvents, as well as non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), such as impurities, oligomers, or degradation products. By searching peer-reviewed literature, we found that at least 10,259 chemicals were related to plastic packaging materials, which include chemicals used during manufacturing and/or present in final packaging items. We then summarized and discussed their chemical structures, analytical instruments, migration characteristics, and hazard categories where possible. For plastic packaging chemicals, examination of the literature reveals gas and liquid chromatography hyphenated to a variety of accurate mass analyzers based on the use of high-resolution mass spectrometry is usually used for the identification of unknown migrants coming from plastic packaging. Chemical migration from food packaging is affected by several parameters, including the nature and complexity of the food, contact time, temperature of the system, type of packaging contact layer, and properties of the migrants. A review of the literature reveals that information on adverse effects is only available for approximately 1600 substances. Among them, it appears that additives are more toxic than monomers to wildlife and humans. Neurotoxicity accounted for the highest proportion of toxicity of all types of chemicals, while benzenoids, organic acids, and derivatives were the most toxic types of chemicals. Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that hydrocarbon derivatives, organic nitrogen compounds, and organometallic compounds have the highest proportions of dermatotoxicity, and organohalogen compounds have the highest proportions of hepatotoxicity. The main contributors to skin sensitization are organic salts. This study provides a basis for comprehensively publicizing information on chemicals in plastics, and could be helpful to better understand their potential risks to the environment and humans.

The Key to Solving Plastic Packaging Wastes: Design for Recycling and Recycling Technology.

Confronted with serious environmental problems caused by the growing mountains of plastic packaging waste, the prevention and control of plastic waste has become a major concern for most countries. In addition to the recycling of plastic wastes, design for recycling can effectively prevent plastic packaging from turning into solid waste at the source. The reasons are that the design for recycling can extend the life cycle of plastic packaging and increase the recycling values of plastic waste; moreover, recycling technologies are helpful for improving the properties of recycled plastics and expanding the application market for recycled materials. This review systematically discussed the present theory, practice, strategies, and methods of design for recycling plastic packaging and extracted valuable advanced design ideas and successful cases. Furthermore, the development status of automatic sorting methods, mechanical recycling of individual and mixed plastic waste, as well as chemical recycling of thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic waste, were comprehensively summarized. The combination of the front-end design for recycling and the back-end recycling technologies can accelerate the transformation of the plastic packaging industry from an unsustainable model to an economic cycle model and then achieve the unity of economic, ecological, and social benefits.

Migration of microplastics from plastic packaging into foods and its potential threats on human health.

Microplastics from food packaging material have risen in number and dispersion in the aquatic system, the terrestrial environment, and the atmosphere in recent decades. Microplastics are of particular concern due to their long-term durability in the environment, their great potential for releasing plastic monomers and additives/chemicals, and their vector-capacity for adsorbing or collecting other pollutants. Consumption of foods containing migrating monomers can lead to accumulation in the body and the build-up of monomers in the body can trigger cancer. The book chapter focuses the commercial plastic food packaging materials and describes their release mechanisms of microplastics from packaging into foods. To prevent the potential risk of microplastics migrated into food products, the factors influencing microplastic to the food products, e.g., high temperatures, ultraviolet and bacteria, have been discussed. Additionally, as many evidences shows that the microplastic components are toxic and carcinogenic, the potential threats and negative effects on human health have also been highlighted. Moreover, future trends is summarized to reduce the microplastic migration by enhancing public awareness as well as improving waste management.

Release of microplastics from breastmilk storage bags and assessment of intake by infants: A preliminary study.

The occurrence of microplastic contaminants in food intended for human consumption has been widely explored. Yet, investigations on plastic and other particle debris in baby food packaging remain scarce to date. Our study shows the release of abundant micro-sized and submicron-sized particles, floccules (<300 µm), and fragments (1-50 µm) during the simulated use of commercially available single-use breastmilk storage bags. Six best-selling products of breastmilk storage bags were selected in our study. Most of the particles released from breastmilk storage bags that were identified as plastics were found to be polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and nylon-6 using micro-Raman spectroscopy. The weight of the particles released from three randomly selected bags of the same product type was determined to be in the range of 0.22 and 0.47 mg. Submicron-sized particles (<0.8 µm) with irregular spherical or oval shapes were present. Microplastics and other particles ingested by infants from the use of breastmilk storage bags were estimated to be 0.61-0.89 mg/day based on the average daily breastmilk intake by infants. This study provides new insights into the exposure to microplastics and other particle debris in commonly used infant products.

Calix[4]arene Derivative for Iodine Capture and Effect on Leaching of Iodine through Packaging.

A hydrophobic calix[4]arene derivative was investigated for its iodine (I2) capture efficiency from gaseous and liquid phase. The iodine uptake was followed by UV-vis spectroscopy. Additionally, the influence of the calix[4]arene derivative-polyolefin system on the leaching of iodine through packaging from a povidone-iodine-based (PVP-I) formulation was evaluated. In fact, iodine is a low-cost, multi-target, and broad-spectrum antiseptic. However, it is volatile, and the extended storage of I2-based formulations is challenging in plastic packaging. Here, we investigated the possibility of reducing the loss of I2 from an iodophor formulation by incorporating 4-tert-butylcalix [4]arene-tetraacetic acid tetraethyl ester (CX) and its iodine complex in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP) via a swelling procedure. Surface and bulk changes were monitored by contact angle, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The barrier effect of the different polymeric systems (embedded with CX, iodine-CX complex, or I2) was evaluated by monitoring the I2 retention in a buffered PVP-I solution by UV-vis spectroscopy. Overall, experimental data showed the capability of the calix[4]arene derivative to complex iodine in solution and the solid state and a significant reduction in the iodine leaching by the PP-CX systems.