Sustainable Cellulose-Aluminum-Plastic Composites from Beverage Cartons Scraps and Recycled Polyethylene

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 807
• Main Authors: Bonadies, Irene, Capuano, Roberta, Avolio, Roberto, Castaldo, Rachele, Cocca, Mariacristina, Gentile, Gennaro, Errico, Maria Emanuela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.02.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Aluminum; beverage cartons; Cartons; Cellulose; Cellulosic resins; Composite materials; composites; Composition effects; Cooling; Coupling agents; High density polyethylenes; Humidity; Investigations; Mechanical properties; Multilayers; Polyethylene; Polyethylenes; polymer processing; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Recycling; Water absorption; United States > US; Italy; Germany; composites; polymer processing; recycling; cellulose; beverage cartons
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14040807

The sustainable management of multilayer paper/plastic waste is a technological challenge due to its composite nature. In this paper, a mechanical recycling approach for multilayer cartons (MC) is reported, illustrating the realization of thermoplastic composites based on recycled polyethylene and an amount of milled MC ranging from 20 to 90 wt%. The effect of composition of the composites on the morphology and on thermal, mechanical, and water absorption behavior was investigated and rationalized, demonstrating that above 80 wt% of MC, the fibrous nature of the filler dominates the overall properties of the materials. A maleated polyethylene was also used as a coupling agent and its effectiveness in improving mechanical parameters of composites up to 60 wt% of MC was highlighted.