Process takes on plastic recycling challenge by turning food packing into heat conducting and electromagnetic shielding material

Article written by Will Bergius

A new recycling process for low-grade packaging plastics promises to produce high quality technical materials. If commercialised, this could make plastic recycling more economically attractive and reduce plastic pollution.

Multilayer packaging is an excellent barrier to oxygen and moisture, making it an ideal material for food packaging. It can contain a range of polymers such as polyethylene, polyamide and ethylene vinyl alcohol, so is difficult to recycle into anything of value – much of the associated waste is incinerated or sent to landfill.


Source: © Shutterstock
Multilayer packaging – good for food, tricky for recycling

To read the full article visit Chemistry World.

High-performance thermal and electrical conductive composites from multilayer plastic packaging waste and expanded graphite
Shuangqiao Yang, Wenzhi Li, Shibing Bai and Qi Wang
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018,6, 11209-11218

 

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)