Valorization of urban and marine PET waste by optimized chemical recycling
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Date
2022Author
Mondragón Otamendi, Gurutz
González, Nekane
Martín Alberdi, María Dolores
Eceiza Mendiguren, María Aranzazu
Peña Rodríguez, Cristina
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Resources, Conservation and Recycling 184 : (2022) // Article ID 106413
Abstract
The degradation of two poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET) samples from urban and marine wastes (PET-u and PET-m, respectively) has been studied by comparing their properties with those of virgin PET (PET-v) and post condensed PET for bottle fabrication (PET-ssp). FTIR spectroscopy, DSC analysis, WCA and MFI results have confirmed that all PET residues were degraded. Therefore, the chemical recycling has been evaluated in order to valorize PET-m and PET-u wastes, analyzing the effect of degradation on the process. Glycolysis of degraded and non-degraded PET samples has been carried out in a pressure reactor at 220C for 30 min. For all the cases almost pure BHET monomer has been obtained: 96.5 and 96.7 % for PET-m and PET-u respectively, values 2 and 13 % higher than those obtained for PET-ssp and PET-v. Obtained results indicate that the initial degradation of PET wastes increases the BHET monomer content in the glycolyzed sample.