A Domestic Plastic Waste Recycling Procedure to Find the Optimal Heat Treatment for Better Hardness and Compression Properties

Abstract

Abstract The optimal recycling temperature and the time duration inside the oven to produce quality recycled plastic-waste has not been standardised. This research focuses on finding the optimal heat treatment procedures for the recycling of wasted plastics as a common guide for the recycling of wasted plastics by using basic domestic tools. Mechanical tests have been conducted on the recycled samples of HDPE and LDPE plastics to find the hardness and compression stress. It has been found that at oven temperature of 180°C, with a heating duration of 50 minutes inside the oven, yields an optimal hardness and compressive properties for LDPE. A temperature of 230° C, with a heating duration of 60 minutes, has been found to give the optimal properties for the HDPE.