Recycling of Pretreated Polyolefin-Based Ocean-Bound Plastic Waste by Incorporating Clay and Rubber

Plastic waste found in oceans has become a major concern because of its impact on marine organisms and human health. There is significant global interest in recycling these materials, but their reclamation, sorting, cleaning, and reprocessing, along with the degradation that occurs in the natural en...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Recycling (Basel) 2022-04, Vol.7 (2), p.25
Main Authors: Martey, Shawn, Hendren, Keith, Farfaras, Nicholas, Kelly, Jesse C., Newsome, Matthew, Ciesielska-Wrobel, Izabela, Sobkowicz, Margaret J., Chen, Wan-Ting
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additives
Biodegradation
Block copolymers
Calorimetry
Clay
compatibilization
Differential scanning calorimetry
High density polyethylenes
Impact strength
Interfaces
Low density polyethylenes
Marine organisms
Mechanical properties
Morphology
Natural environment
Oceans
Plastic debris
plastic waste
Plastics
Polyethylene
Polymer blends
Polymers
Polyolefins
Polystyrene resins
Propylene
Reclamation
Recycling
Reprocessing
Resins
Rheological properties
Rheology
Rubber
Scanning electron microscopy
Styrene
Tensile strength
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Summary:Plastic waste found in oceans has become a major concern because of its impact on marine organisms and human health. There is significant global interest in recycling these materials, but their reclamation, sorting, cleaning, and reprocessing, along with the degradation that occurs in the natural environment, all make it difficult to achieve high quality recycled resins from ocean plastic waste. To mitigate these limitations, various additives including clay and rubber were explored. In this study, we compounded different types of ocean-bound (o-HDPE and o-PP) and virgin polymers (v-LDPE and v-PS) with various additives including a functionalized clay, styrene-multi-block-copolymer (SMB), and ethylene-propylene-based rubber (EPR). Physical observation showed that all blends containing PS were brittle due to the weak interfaces between the polyolefin regions and the PS domains within the polymer blend matrix. Blends containing clay showed rough surfaces and brittleness because of the non-uniform distribution of clay particles in the polymer matrix. To evaluate the properties and compatibility of the blends, characterizations using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and small-amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) rheology were carried out. The polymer blend (v-LDPE, o-HDPE, o-PP) containing EPR showed improved elasticity. Incorporating additives such as rubber could improve the mechanical properties of polymer blends for recycling purposes.
ISSN:2313-4321
2313-4321
DOI:10.3390/recycling7020025