Eco-Friendly Polymer Waste Processing Technology to Solve the Plastic Pollution Problem ^†

According to the EU Directive 2018/851 on waste, by 2035 the amount of municipal waste sent to landfills should be reduced to 10% of the total amount of household waste, and the level of reuse and recycling of municipal waste should be increased to 65%. An important issue in solving the waste problem is the transition from landfilling and incineration to industrial recycling. Recycling is an important component of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12, which focuses on responsible consumption and production. Recycling helps to minimize negative environmental impacts, reduces the demand for natural resources, reduces waste in landfills, and promotes a circular economy.

The Polygreen plant is the largest enterprise in Ukraine engaged in the secondary processing of polyethylene film waste. Properties of polyethylene, such as resistance to water, organic solvents, acids, and alkalis at normal temperature and good mechanical properties, make it a universal material for many applications; however, polyethylene is not biodegradable, which leads to its accumulation in landfills. One way to increase the biodegradability of polymeric materials is to combine them with biodegradable polymers.

In recent years, eco-friendly biodegradable polymers such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), polyhydroxybutyrates (PHBs), polybutylene succinate (PBS), and poly(butylene adipate-coterephthalate) (PBAT) have received attention regarding the replacement of conventional polyethylene. However, these biodegradable polymers are more expensive than PE. Thus, blending PE and biodegradable polymers is one way of reducing not only the cost of industrial application but also the widespread use of non-biodegradable PE. Polymer blending efficiently provides desirable characteristics for films and packaging materials by improving their properties.

This work is devoted to the development of a technology for obtaining secondary granules from PE waste by combining it with PBAT for the production of a biodegradable flexible film: we discuss the determination of rational drying parameters, establishment of the extrusion temperature profile, optimization of the ratio between PE and PBAT, and characterization of the obtained materials. Reducing the ratios of non-biodegradable materials by blending with biodegradable plastics possibly reduces the accumulation of package waste, which corresponds to the principles of the circular economy. In addition, the granules for the production of polymer products from secondary raw materials cost 20–30% less than that from primary polymer, which affects the cost of products for the consumer.