Recycling of Polyolefins: Part 1: Blends of Two Polymers

Abstract

The recovery of plastic waste may be an incentive to industry, since the use of such plastics represents a cheaper source of raw material. The aim of the present paper is to study the feasibility of recycling polyolefins with copolymer additives to improve the mechanical properties and increase the useful life of the blends. The values obtained for the mechanical and thermal properties for polypropylene (PP) with recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) show that it is possible to use recycled HDPE up to 30% w/w. The properties and applications are similar to those obtained with PP alone, thereby reducing the cost of the raw material. The addition of the compatibilizer at 5% represents the optimal concentration for improving the final properties of the finished product. Analysis of the mechanical and thermal behavior of the low density polyethylene (LDPE) with recycled HDPE blends lead us to conclude that it is possible to use recycled HDPE because the properties of the finished product are thereby enhanced.