Utilization of Recycled PET Flours in Recycled Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Composites

Abstract

Recycling is vital subject for sustainable future and environment. Plastic waste can be post-consumer and pre-consumer and need urgent recycling. Both PVC and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were used commonly and has important place in solid waste stream. These polymers should be reused or recycled instead of landfilling due to their valuable properties. In this study, potential utilization of PET flour in recycled PVC composites was investigated using 2-level factorial design. Processing type (injection molding vs compression molding) and PET filling concentration (0% and 10%) during recycled PVC composite materials manufacturing were studied. During manufacturing process, 20 phr (per-hundred-resin) DOP was utilized. Density, tensile, flexural, impact and hardness (shore D) properties of composites were determined. Results showed that samples produced with injection molding process provided superior tensile properties compared to compression molding process ones. Addition of PET flour into recycled PVC matrix both reduced the tensile strength and elongation at break values while improving tensile modulus. In the case of flexural properties, compression molding and injection molding provided higher flexural strength and flexural modulus, respectively. Impact strength was reduced with injection molding and PET presence in the matrix. Processing type did not affect the hardness of the materials. However, addition of PET in the PVC matrix increased the hardness of the samples. Future studies will be conducted to investigate the effect of using different size and shape PET fibers in recycled PVC.