Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Mixed PE Fractions from Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste

Abstract

The functional properties of recycled post-consumer flexible polyethylene packaging waste have been studied using materials collected and sorted at a large-scale facility in Sweden. The studied fraction was used both as received and after simple laboratory washing in water with added sodium hydroxide at 40 °C. The materials were melt-compounded with a twin-screw extruder using two different temperature profiles and two screw configurations and injection-molded into slabs, whose thermal and mechanical properties were assessed. The results showed that the mechanical properties of injection-molded samples were not changed significantly either by the washing or by the temperature or screw configuration used in the compounding. Washing reduced the viscosity and molecular mass to a minor extent. As expected, the ash content of the compounded pellets was reduced by washing. The thermo-oxidative stability decreased with increasing compounding temperature and with washing.