Compounding and characterization of recycled multilayer plastic films

Mechanical recycling of multilayer plastic films from food packages was investigated. The multilayer films were manually separated from municipal solid waste, washed, grinded, and finally compounded at 0–100 wt% concentrations with virgin low-density polyethylene (PE-LD). Polyethylene grafted with maleic anhydride (PE-g-MA) compatibilizer was used in two of the compounds to replace 2 and 5 wt% of the PE-LD to study its effect as well. PE-g-MA is expected to improve the mechanical properties of the compounds by promoting the adhesion between incompatible polymer phases. The composition of the compounds was characterized with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry and their properties were studied with tensile testing and rotational rheometer measurements. All tested compounds had relatively good mechanical properties and processability. This indicates that recycled multilayer films could replace at least part of the virgin PE-LD in applications where high-thermal stability or good visual appearance is not required. The PE-g-MA compatibilizer did not have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of the compounds.