Analysis of the Delamination Process with Nitric Acid in Multilayer Composite Food Packaging

Abstract

Multilayer packaging, commonly referred to as composite materials, is widely utilized in food storage, distribution, and consumption. The employment of plastic packaging, which consists of multiple layers of polymers, ink, paper, and metal, has elicited concerns regarding its detrimental impact on the environment. This article presents an in-depth study of the delamination process of multilayer plastic waste (MLPW) recycling, which is deemed as an effective solution for MLPW recycling. This study aimed to examine the effects of temperature, concentration, width, and ultrasound on the separation of layers in multilayer packaging. The results demonstrated that ultrasound is the most influential factor with nitric acid concentration ranking as the second most significant factor. The findings also disclosed considerable disparities among the time frames, and the impacts of various factors, such as temperature and concentration, lay the groundwork for further investigation into this process. The study underscores the importance of temperature and nitric acid concentration, which can inform the design of future experiments and the development of more efficient methods for layer separation.