Polypropylene Contamination in Post-Consumer Polyolefin Waste: Characterisation, Consequences and Compatibilisation

Plastic recycling strikes a balance between functional, mass producible products and environmental sustainability and is pegged by governments for rapid expansion. However, ambitious targets on recycled material adoption across new markets are at odds with the often heterogenous properties of contaminated regranulates. This study investigated polypropylene (PP) contamination in post-consumer low-density polyethylene (PE-LD) and mixed polyolefin (PO) regranulates. Calibration curves were constructed and PP content, its effect on mechanical properties and property recovery in compatibilised material assessed. FT-IR band ratios provided more reliable estimations of PP content than DSC melt enthalpy, which suffered considerable error for PP copolymers. PE-LD regranulates contained up to 7 wt.% PP contamination and were considerably more brittle than virgin PE-LD. Most mixed PO regranulates contained 45-95 wt.% PP and grew more brittle with increasing PP content. Compatibilisation with 5 wt.% ethylene-based olefin block copolymer resulted in PE-LD blends resembling virgin PE-LD and considerable improvements in the properties of mixed PO blends. These results illustrate the prevalence of PP in recycled PE, challenges associated with its quantification, effect on mechanical properties, and compatibilisation viability, thereby representing an important step towards higher quality regranulates to meet the recycling demands of tomorrow.

Automated summary

Plastic recycling aims to balance functionality and mass producibility with environmental sustainability, but faces challenges with contamination and heterogeneous properties in recycled materials. This study investigated polypropylene (PP) contamination in post-consumer low-density polyethylene (PE-LD) and mixed polyolefin (PO) regranulates, finding that PP content affects mechanical properties and can be better estimated using FT-IR band ratios. Compatibilisation with ethylene-based olefin block copolymer showed promise in improving properties of recycled materials for higher quality regranulates.