Separating PET from plastic waste with flotation technique

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has a high recovery value. Aiming at separating PET from plastic packaging waste, researchers at Southwest Jiao tong University in China used a designed flotation column in laboratory to investigate the effects of parameters, such as wetting agent species and wetting agent concentration, on the flotation behaviors.
Flotation is a separation method according to the different floatability of plastic particles. It can adjust or change the surface properties of plastic by physical and chemical ways, and separate mixed plastics that have little differences in charge and density. An article about the research is published in Procedia Environmental Sciences.
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