Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends
The recycling of plastic waste is undergoing fast growth due to environmental, health and economic issues, and several blends of post-consumer and post-industrial polymeric materials have been characterized in recent years. However, most of these researches have focused on plastic containers and pac...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Recycling |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/6/3/58 |
| _version_ | 1827681456920461312 |
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| author | Patrizio Tratzi Chiara Giuliani Marco Torre Laura Tomassetti Roberto Petrucci Antonio Iannoni Luigi Torre Salvatore Genova Valerio Paolini Francesco Petracchini Gabriella Di Carlo |
| author_facet | Patrizio Tratzi Chiara Giuliani Marco Torre Laura Tomassetti Roberto Petrucci Antonio Iannoni Luigi Torre Salvatore Genova Valerio Paolini Francesco Petracchini Gabriella Di Carlo |
| author_sort | Patrizio Tratzi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The recycling of plastic waste is undergoing fast growth due to environmental, health and economic issues, and several blends of post-consumer and post-industrial polymeric materials have been characterized in recent years. However, most of these researches have focused on plastic containers and packaging, neglecting hard plastic waste. This study provides the first experimental characterization of different blends of hard plastic waste and virgin polypropylene in terms of melt index, differential scan calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical properties (tensile, impact and Shore hardness) and Vicat softening test. Compared to blends based on packaging plastic waste, significant differences were observed in terms of melt flow index (about 10 points higher for hard plastic waste). Mechanical properties, in particular yield strain, were instead quite similar (between 5 and 9%), despite a higher standard deviation being observed, up to 10%, probably due to incomplete homogenization. Results demonstrate that these worse performances could be mainly attributed to the presence of different additives, as well as to the presence of impurities or traces of other polymers, other than incomplete homogenization. On the other hand, acceptable results were obtained for selected blends; the optimal blending ratio was identified as 78% post-consumer waste and 22% post-industrial waste, meeting the requirement for injection molding and thermoforming. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:16:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-50ae71027255481b8ea7893579fb17a1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2313-4321 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:16:19Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Recycling |
| spelling | doaj.art-50ae71027255481b8ea7893579fb17a12023-11-22T15:02:49ZengMDPI AGRecycling2313-43212021-09-01635810.3390/recycling6030058Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene BlendsPatrizio Tratzi0Chiara Giuliani1Marco Torre2Laura Tomassetti3Roberto Petrucci4Antonio Iannoni5Luigi Torre6Salvatore Genova7Valerio Paolini8Francesco Petracchini9Gabriella Di Carlo10National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (CNR-ISMN), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Perugia University, Unità di Ricerca Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Scienza e la Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Strada di Pentima 4, 05100 Terni, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Perugia University, Unità di Ricerca Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Scienza e la Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Strada di Pentima 4, 05100 Terni, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Perugia University, Unità di Ricerca Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Scienza e la Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Strada di Pentima 4, 05100 Terni, ItalyEnte di Studio per la Pianificazione Ecosostenibile dei Rifiuti s.r.l. (ESPER), Largo Cibrario 10, 10144 Torino, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (CNR-ISMN), Via Salaria 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyThe recycling of plastic waste is undergoing fast growth due to environmental, health and economic issues, and several blends of post-consumer and post-industrial polymeric materials have been characterized in recent years. However, most of these researches have focused on plastic containers and packaging, neglecting hard plastic waste. This study provides the first experimental characterization of different blends of hard plastic waste and virgin polypropylene in terms of melt index, differential scan calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical properties (tensile, impact and Shore hardness) and Vicat softening test. Compared to blends based on packaging plastic waste, significant differences were observed in terms of melt flow index (about 10 points higher for hard plastic waste). Mechanical properties, in particular yield strain, were instead quite similar (between 5 and 9%), despite a higher standard deviation being observed, up to 10%, probably due to incomplete homogenization. Results demonstrate that these worse performances could be mainly attributed to the presence of different additives, as well as to the presence of impurities or traces of other polymers, other than incomplete homogenization. On the other hand, acceptable results were obtained for selected blends; the optimal blending ratio was identified as 78% post-consumer waste and 22% post-industrial waste, meeting the requirement for injection molding and thermoforming.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/6/3/58plastic waste managementrecyclingpolypropylene (PP)melt flow indexcircular economy |
| spellingShingle | Patrizio Tratzi Chiara Giuliani Marco Torre Laura Tomassetti Roberto Petrucci Antonio Iannoni Luigi Torre Salvatore Genova Valerio Paolini Francesco Petracchini Gabriella Di Carlo Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends Recycling plastic waste management recycling polypropylene (PP) melt flow index circular economy |
| title | Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends |
| title_full | Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends |
| title_short | Effect of Hard Plastic Waste on the Quality of Recycled Polypropylene Blends |
| title_sort | effect of hard plastic waste on the quality of recycled polypropylene blends |
| topic | plastic waste management recycling polypropylene (PP) melt flow index circular economy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/6/3/58 |
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