TY - JOUR
T1 - Simulating the recycling of milk bottles in the UK
T2 - Influence of blending virgin and repeatedly melt-extruded high-density polyethylene
AU - Gaduan, Andre N.
AU - Li, Joanne
AU - Hill, Gavin
AU - Wallis, Christopher
AU - Burgstaller, Christoph
AU - Lee, Koon Yang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - The UK Dairy Roadmap has set a target of achieving 50 wt.-% high density polyethylene (HDPE) recyclate in their HDPE milk bottles. Such high recyclate content will lead to the accumulation of HDPE recyclates that have been subjected to different number of melt extrusion cycles in the supply chain. This work investigates the structure-property relationship of blending virgin HDPE (vHDPE) with these different grades of repeatedly melt-extruded HDPE (rHDPE). HDPE was subjected to 10, 20 and 50 melt-extrusion cycles and blended with vHDPE. No significant difference in terms of melt rheology, tensile properties and overall migration in acidic and aqueous environments of the blends of the different rHDPEs with vHDPE was observed when compared to vHDPE. This study demonstrates the feasibility of blending up to 50 wt.-% rHDPE of different grades with vHDPE as set out in the UK Dairy Roadmap.
AB - The UK Dairy Roadmap has set a target of achieving 50 wt.-% high density polyethylene (HDPE) recyclate in their HDPE milk bottles. Such high recyclate content will lead to the accumulation of HDPE recyclates that have been subjected to different number of melt extrusion cycles in the supply chain. This work investigates the structure-property relationship of blending virgin HDPE (vHDPE) with these different grades of repeatedly melt-extruded HDPE (rHDPE). HDPE was subjected to 10, 20 and 50 melt-extrusion cycles and blended with vHDPE. No significant difference in terms of melt rheology, tensile properties and overall migration in acidic and aqueous environments of the blends of the different rHDPEs with vHDPE was observed when compared to vHDPE. This study demonstrates the feasibility of blending up to 50 wt.-% rHDPE of different grades with vHDPE as set out in the UK Dairy Roadmap.
KW - Discolouration
KW - Extrusion
KW - Mechanical properties
KW - Mechanical recycling
KW - Polymer degradation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140915819&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106734
DO - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106734
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85140915819
SN - 0921-3449
VL - 189
JO - Resources, Conservation and Recycling
JF - Resources, Conservation and Recycling
M1 - 106734
ER -