Recycling of cheap packaging waste versus expensive engineering materials

Abstract

AbstractThe economical incitement is larger for recycling of expensive engineering materials than for packaging plastics. It should, however, be possible also for municipal waste industry to profit from recycling of packaging waste. At present, municipal waste plants already sell sorted plastics fractions on the order basis. The degree of mixing of these plastic fractions is the key question to be solved in order to obtain a high‐quality product. The value of recycled HDPE fraction is lowered if it contains impurities of other polymers, e.g. PP, PS or PET because such impurities cause embrittlement. An addition of an impact modifier to contaminated HDPE was analyzed with respect to changes in morphology and mechanical properties. Oxidative stability of the polymer matrix decreased as a result of recycling, indicating decomposition of heat stabilizers, as shown for polyamide 66. The relation between expensive/cheap recycled plastics is discussed based on their long‐term properties.