The selective recycling of mixed plastic waste of polylactic acid and polyethylene terephthalate by control of process conditions

Carné Sánchez , Arnau and Collinson, Simon R. (2011). The selective recycling of mixed plastic waste of polylactic acid and polyethylene terephthalate by control of process conditions. European Polymer Journal, 47(10), pp. 1970–1976.

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DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link:	http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2011.07.013
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Abstract

The glycolysis of postconsumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste was evaluated with catalysts of zinc acetate, zinc stearate and zinc sulfate, showing that zinc acetate was the most soluble and effective. The chemical recycling by solvolysis of polylactic acid (PLA) and PET waste in either methanol or ethanol was investigated. Zinc acetate as a catalyst was found to be necessary to yield an effective depolymerization of waste PLA giving lactate esters, while with the same reaction conditions PET remains as an unconverted solid. This provides a strategy to selectively recycle mixed plastic waste by converting one plastic to a liquid and recovering the unreacted solid plastic by filtration.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Copyright Holders:	2011 Elsevier Ltd
ISSN:	1873-1945
Funders:	Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (CIWM), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Extra Information:	NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in European Polymer Journal. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in European Polymer Journal 47(10) 2011 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2011.07.013
Keywords:	polyethylene terephthalate; polylactic acid; recycling; catalyst, glycolysis; mixed plastic waste
Academic Unit/Department:	Science > Life, Health and Chemical Sciences
Item ID:	31292
Depositing User:	Simon Collinson
Date Deposited:	20 Jan 2012 10:43
Last Modified:	23 Oct 2012 18:24
URI:	http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/31292

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