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Characterization and quality assessment of recycled post-consumption poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)

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Abstract

In the present study, the recycled post-consumption polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flakes were investigated as possible raw materials for the production of food packaging. After heating at 220 °C for 1 h, a steaming stage was conducted as a control test to assess the quality of the product. Different samples were characterized by 1H-NMR, FT-IR, DSC/TGA analysis, viscosity index (VI), and trace metals analysis. The results showed that the recycled post-consumed PET flakes’ properties were generally conform to the standard norms of PET except the color of some flakes turned to yellow. Subsequently, a complementary study was undertaken to assess whether the material could be possibly reused for food packaging. For this purpose, rheological, thermal, and mechanical characterizations were performed. The results of the comparative study between the virgin and the recycled PET flakes concluded that the PET recycling affected the rheological properties but did not have any significant effect on their thermal and mechanical characteristics. Hence, it was deduced that the post-consumed PET flakes could be reused as a packaging material except food products.

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out in the framework of a MOBIDOC thesis funded by the European Union in the frame of PASRI program. This study was supported by IMP@Lyon 1 for the mechanical and thermal studies. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ayadi Hajji for his help with proofreading, correcting the English, and editing this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit Urban and Coastal Environments, National Engineering School of Sfax, University of Sfax, BP 1173, 3038, Sfax, Tunisia

    Fatma Masmoudi & Emna Ammar

  2. Polymer Materials Engineering (IMP@INSA Lyon), Lyon, France

    Fatma Masmoudi & Françoise Fenouillot

  3. Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Environment, National Engineering School of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Fatma Masmoudi & Mohamed Jaziri

  4. Packaging Technical Centre (PACKTEC), Tunis, Tunisia

    Afef Mehri

Authors
  1. Fatma Masmoudi
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  2. Françoise Fenouillot
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  3. Afef Mehri
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  4. Mohamed Jaziri
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  5. Emna Ammar
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Correspondence to Emna Ammar.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Masmoudi, F., Fenouillot, F., Mehri, A. et al. Characterization and quality assessment of recycled post-consumption poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 23307–23314 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2390-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2390-7

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