Plastic Waste Recycling

Abstract

Plastic wastes from PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride),  PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)  and  LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) were collected and sorted out based on SPI coded method. Each waste type was blended with its virgin polymer at a ratio of 100 (V) : 0 (W), 80 (V) : 20 (W), 60 (V) : 40 (W), 40 (V) : 60 (W), 20 (V) : 80 (W), 0 (V) : 100 (W). The blended films were cast at the melt temperatures of 220 ⁰ C for PVC, 260 ⁰ C for PET, 120 ^o C – 130 ^o C for HDPE, 105 ⁰ C – 115 ⁰ C for LDPE. The results obtained indicate that, for each blended plastic type, the melt temperature decreases as the percentage weight of the plastic waste increases. Furthermore, the results of tensile strength measurements of the films using SMS Tensometer 5011 showed that the blends at 80 (V) : 20 (W) have higher values for all plastic types.