Investigation of an Upcycling Strategy for Mixed Plastic Wastes from Urban Collection

In this work, an upcycling strategy, aimed to upgrade the performances of recyclates deriving from sorting and mechanical recycling of mixed plastic waste recovered from the urban collection (UPW), is explored. To this aim, UPW samples are firstly analyzed to get information on their polymer constituents (type and relative amount), and then they are upcycled with the addition of different amounts of a polymer compatibilizer, a CaCO3-based moisture absorber, and/or odor removers. All used additives give interesting benefits on processability and quality of the recycled UPW. In particular, the stiffness is increased up to ca. 22%, with the addition of 5 wt% of compatibilizer, and up to ca. 36%, with the addition of 5 wt% of moisture absorber, which also give better processability thanks to its moisture removal action. The odor absorber significantly reduces the smell of the recyclates, as found in preliminary odor recognition test sensory evaluation.