Research on the Suitability of Recycled High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Resinsfor Drain Pipe Applications

摘要

Post consumer and virgin resin samples were evaluated alone and at variousblended compositions in order to determine their critical physical, chemical, and processing characteristics. Homopolymer and copolymer blends were prepared containing 25, 50 and 75% PCR HDPE with the balance made up of virgin resin as specified. Small scale, controlled resin blends exhibited expected systematic changes, as percentages of recycle and virgin resins were varied. Increased percentages of recycled copolymer material generally resulted in reduced stiffness and increased elasticity of the samples. Mechanical properties of blends, therefore fell in the intermediate region between those of 100% virgin and 100% recycled materials. This was found to be consistent for both homopolymer and copolymer PCR HDPE blended with virgin resin.