Hyperspectral characterization of marine plastic litters

The problem of marine plastic litters is the object of recent worldwide attention and is the object of current decisions of the European Union that require member states to act in a decisive way to improve monitoring and removal of marine plastic litters in the short term. Proximal sensing technologies based on hyperspectral imaging have been introduced as a best practice for marine litter survey and removal planning. The preliminary and mandatory step for their successful application is the characterization of the most diffuse polymers that can be found in industrial and household plastic wastes. Near-infrared (900-1700 nm) reflectance spectra of traditional and bio-based polymers were extracted from hyperspectral images acquired with a two-linear-spectrometer apparatus. Results show that a rapid and reliable identification of the polymers can be achieved by using a simple two near-infrared wavelength operator coupled to an analysis of reflectance spectra.