Valorization of plastic waste from polymerization process of styrenic resins

VOLPIN, MARCOS; VAZQUEZ, YAMILA VICTORIA; BARBOSA, SILVIA ELENA

CABA

Congreso; WORLD CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING - WCCE11; 2023

Asociación Argentina de Ingenieros Químicos - AAIQ

The aim of this work is to develop sustainable methodologies for the valorization of WSBR, reinserting them in the life cycle of plastics and, as a result, promoting their recycling in order to reduce the generation and final disposal of plastic waste while taking into account Circular Economy concepts. Two strategies to achieve this goal are proposed: a) direct mixing of WSBR with plastics from WEEE, HIPS, and ABS; and b) WSBR as a compatibilizer for HIPS/ABS blends from WEEE. Blends of each plastic WEEE with 20 wt% WSBR are analyzed for the first strategy. In the second one, two different proportions of mixed HIPS/ABS are studied, one with 80 wt% of ABS (H20/A80) and the other with 80 wt% of HIPS (H80/A20), in both proportions 20 wt% of WSBR was added. Mechanical properties of all blends comparatively presented in Figure 1 show that blending WSBR with mixed plastic WEEE is the most sustainable strategy for WSBR valorization because it admits higher amounts of WSBR, resulting in materials with better mechanical properties while avoiding the sorting step of plastic WEEE. Consequently, the overall process is simpler and less expensive.