Recycling Waste Polypropylene to Produce New Composite Materials with Jute Reinforcements

Abstract

Abstract Waste polypropylene (PP) polymer was collected, washed, dried and mechanically recycled into granules. Natural fibers are a sustainable and renewable resource, and in this work, Corchorus olitorius jute fiber was used as a reinforcing agent with waste PP. Jute fiber was collected from local market, cleaned, dried and cut into 1-2 mm in length for the production of waste PP-jute composites. The molecular structure of waste PP and virgin PP were characterized by the attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR). The purpose of the current research was to examine the effectiveness of waste PP by comparing waste PP-jute composites and virgin PP-jute composites. The injection molding process was utilized to make jute fiber reinforced waste PP composites with various jute fiber loadings (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% in weight).The same process was used to produce virgin PP composites reinforced with jute fiber. All composites undergo water absorption and tensile testing in order to assess the recycled PP. Injection molded virgin and waste PP's physico-mechanical, thermal, and tensile strengths are also examined. In comparison to waste PP, virgin PP has a 6% greater tensile strength and a 19% higher elongation at break. Results from waste PP-jute composites and virgin PP-jute composites did not significantly differ from one another. Products made from recycled PP can thus be both economically and environmentally viable.