Mechanical and processing properties of recycled PET and LDPE-HDPE composite material for building components

JERÓNIMO KREIKER; ARIEL LEONARDO CAPPELLETTI; ROSANA GAGGINO; MARÍA POSITIERI; JULIÁN GONZALEZ LARIA; LUCAS ERNESTO PEISINO

JOURNAL OF THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIALS

SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD

Lugar: London; Año: 2020 p. 1 - 14

0892-7057

Although several reports can be found in literature about the recycling of plastic materials, only a few focus on the recovering and molding them in a new process. Plastic materials blends can be fabricated by several techniques, which allows the molding of a compound adaptable to each needed performance. This fact favors the recycling by allowing the use of mixed wastes without major processes, avoiding expensive treatments.This research work analyzes the mechanical properties of a material conformed by 100 % recycled plastics: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and low/high density polyethylene (LDPE/HDPE) without previous separation or washing and drying pre-treatments. Its macro and microscopic structure was studied and described, and formulations of different compounds rates were analyzed. Mechanical resistance was around 60% of a material composed by virgin materials in Compressive, flexural and tensile strength tests. Its potential application to building components manufacture is analyzed.