Cast Film Production with Polyethylene Recycled from a Post-Industrial Printed Multilayer Film by Solvent-Targeted Recovery and Precipitation

Sánchez-Rivera, Kevin L.; Granger, Charles; Appiah, Harrison; Nelson, Kevin; Grey, Steve; Sun, David J.; Estela-García, John E.; Chen, Edward; Xu, Zhuo; Osswald, Tim A.; Turng, Lih-Sheng; McDonald, Armando G.; Van Lehn, Reid C.; Bar-Ziv, Ezra; Huber, George W.

doi:10.1021/acsmaterialslett.4c01048

Cast Film Production with Polyethylene Recycled from a Post-Industrial Printed Multilayer Film by Solvent-Targeted Recovery and Precipitation

Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2024 · ACS Materials Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmaterialslett.4c01048· OSTI ID:2479256

Sánchez-Rivera, Kevin L. ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[2]; Nelson, Kevin ^[3]; Grey, Steve ^[3]; Sun, David J. ^[1]; Estela-García, John E. ^[1]; Chen, Edward ^[1]; Xu, Zhuo ^[1]; Osswald, Tim A. ^[1]; ^[1]; McDonald, Armando G. ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[4]; ^[1]

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
University of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States)
Amcor, Neenah Innovation Center, WI (United States)
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI (United States)

The solvent-targeted recovery and precipitation (STRAP) process separates and recovers the constituent resins in multilayer plastic packaging films by selective polymer dissolution. In this work, three different experimental methods were considered to recover a polyethylene (PE) resin from a printed multilayer film by STRAP. The methods consisted of (1) a filter bag system, (2) a Soxhlet extraction, and (3) a jacketed dissolution vessel. Cast films were produced with the PE recovered from each method and were analyzed for color, mechanical properties, and number of impurities. High-quality recycled PE cast films can be produced by increasing the solvent to plastic ratio, including a filter pore size of 100 μm, and optimizing temperature control in STRAP. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that STRAP polymers can be recycled back into plastic films, enabling the potential circularity of these packaging materials.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0009285

OSTI ID:: 2479256

Journal Information:: ACS Materials Letters, Journal Name: ACS Materials Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 6; ISSN 2639-4979

Publisher:: ACS PublicationsCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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