Abstract:
Sustainable plastic waste management systems are needed to reduce environmental pollution
impacts as they are non-biodegradable and emit greenhouse gases when burned. This study
investigates the feasibility of using recycled polypropylene (PP) from commonly used plastics to
process composite panels. The samples were obtained from household plastics with a Resin
Identification Code (RIC) of 5. In addition, other common polymer samples were obtained from plastic
coffee cups (W) and red basin tubs (R) and moulded using an injection moulding machine. The
mechanical strengths of the resultant composites were plotted and compared with the theoretical
value of the pure polymer. The ultimate tensile strength of the white cups and the red basin tubs was
found to be 36 MPa and 14.55 MPa, while their yield points were 14.45 MPa and 4.55 MPa,
respectively. Infrared spectra of the absorption of the samples were obtained using Fourier transform
infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The band gaps were analysed from Tauc’s plot and were found to be of
white cups and the red bath tubs at 3.392 eV and 3.646 eV, respectively. These properties were found
to be suitable for recycled plastics to be applied to process value-added panels with no significant
adverse influence on material properties.
