Reuse of Granules Obtained By Mechanical Recycling In Polyethylene Film Production and Evaluation of Their Quality

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 7 Sayı: 1, 36 - 48, 16.07.2024

Alperen Konuk , Arzu Kara , Beyza Efe Çiğdem , Eda Arkon , İmdat Özmen , Ömer Lütfi Yıldırım

Öz

: Due to the rapid increase in the world population, increasing food consumption and high demand for ready-made consumer products, the need for plastic packaging usage tends to increase day by day. Considering the safety, hygienic conditions and shelf life characteristics of food products, plastic packaging is at the forefront of many food product packaging choices. Preserving the freshness of the products for a certain period of time and preventing them from being exposed to external factors can be achieved by choosing the right packaging. At the same time, the ability to transfer the product visuality to the end consumer is also among the product packaging features. Considering all these conditions, it is seen that packaging products constitute the majority of plastic waste. Polyolefins, which form the main element of the plastic packaging structure, are produced from petroleum or natural gas after the polymerization process. Due to the fact that petroleum, which is the raw material of plastic, is not an edible resource and with the increase in resource consumption, studies on packaging suitable for recycling, which will reduce the amount of plastic use, are increasing. Mechanical recycling, one of the recycling methods, is a material recovery method that is realized without disrupting the molecular structure of polymers. In this method, which is preferred due to its low cost and reliability, thermoplastics are broken, remelted and shaped. The Recotrim plastic recycling device used in this study was integrated into the extrusion line and a system was established, so that the mechanical recycling method was used in the process. Reusable granules were obtained by providing optimum conditions. In order to examine the quality of the polyethylene films produced using these granules, DSC, FTIR, microscopic analysis of polyetilen film and sealing strenght analysis were carried out together with mechanical tests. As a result of the analysis, the same quality food packaging film was produced using 15-20% recycled granules. As a result, this study proved the effectiveness and reliability of mechanical recycling for the treatment of in-house waste used in polyethylene films. The use of recycled content in the produced films provides many significant economic and environmental advantages, such as reducing resource consumption and plastic waste.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Mechanical Recycling, Plastic, Polyethylene, In-house, Flexible packaging.

Mekanik Geri Dönüştürme Yöntemi İle Elde Edilen Granüllerin Polietilen Film Üretiminde Tekrar Kullanılması ve Kalitesinin Değerlendirilmesi

Öz

Dünya nüfusundaki hızlı artış, artan gıda tüketimi ve hazır tüketim ürünlerine olan yoğun talep sebepleri ile plastik ambalaj kullanım ihtiyacı her geçen gün artış eğilimi göstermektedir. Gıda ürünlerinin güvenliği, hijyenik koşullar ve raf ömrü özellikleri göz önüne alındığında, birçok gıda ürünü ambalaj seçiminde plastik ambalaj ön sıralarda yer almaktadır. Ürünlerin belirli bir süre tazeliğinin korunması, dış etkenlere maruz kalmasının önlenmesi doğru ambalaj seçimi ile sağlanabilmektedir. Aynı zamanda ürün görselliğinin son tüketiciye aktarılabilmesi de yine ürün ambalaj özellikleri arasındadır. Tüm bu koşullar göz önüne alındığında, ambalaj ürünlerinin plastik atıklarının büyük çoğunluğunu oluşturduğu görülmektedir. Plastik ambalaj yapısının ana yapı taşlarını oluşturan poliolefinler, polimerleşme işlemi sonrasında petrol veya doğal gazdan üretilir. Plastiğin hammaddesi olan petrolün yenilenebilir bir kaynak olmaması sebebiyle ve kaynak tüketiminin artmasıyla birlikte, plastik kullanım miktarını azaltacak, geri dönüşüme uygun ambalaj çalışmaları artış göstermektedir. Geri dönüşüm yöntemlerinden biri olan mekanik geri dönüşüm, polimerlerin molekül yapılarını bozmadan gerçekleştirilen malzeme geri kazanım yöntemidir. Düşük maliyetli ve güvenilir olması nedeniyle tercih edilen bu yöntemde; termoplastikler kırılıp, tekrar eritilip şekillendirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada kullanılan Recotrim plastik geri dönüşüm cihazı, ekstrüzyon hattına entegre edilerek mekanik geri dönüşüm yöntemi ile optimum koşullar sağlanarak tekrar kullanılabilir granüller elde edilmiştir. Bu granüller kullanılarak üretilen Polietilen filmlerin kalitesini incelemek için, mekanik testler ile birlikte DSC, FTIR, mikroskop ile film katman ve ısıl yapışma analizleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Analizler neticesinde 15-20% oranında geri dönüştürülmüş granül kullanılarak aynı kalitede gıda ambalaj filmi üretilmiştir. Sonuç olarak bu çalışma ile üretilen polietilen filmlerde kullanılan in-house hurdaların işlenmesi için mekanik geri dönüşümün etkinliği ve uygulanabilirliği kanıtlanmıştır. Üretilen filmlerde geri dönüştürülmüş içeriğin kullanılması, kaynak tüketiminin ve plastik atık miktarının azaltılması gibi birçok önemli ekonomik ve çevresel avantaj sağlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Mekanik Geri dönüşüm, Plastik, Polietilen, In-house, Esnek ambalaj

Kaynakça

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