New polymer additive could revolutionize plastics recycling

16 March 2017

One of the problems of recycling plastics is that polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which account for two-thirds of the world’s plastics, have different chemical structures and thus cannot be repurposed together. Or, at least, an efficient technology to meld these two materials into one hasn’t been available in the sixty years they’ve both been on the market.
Researchers have now developed a multiblock polymer that, when added in small measure to a mix of the two otherwise incompatible materials, create a new and mechanically tough polymer. An article about the research is published in Science (Press Release Cornell University, 23 February 2017).
Click here for the press release.
Click here for the published article (1002 kB).
Click here for a video about the research.
Click here for more information about the new NVC Project PUMA: the end of packaging as an environmental issue.

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