Recycling of PET and PVC

Recycling is an important activity in minimization of waste resulting from man’s activities. The idea of getting advantage of this waste is not new, but its importance has increased during the last decades due to environmental, economics and social factors. Although the plastics recycling system is efficient, it has some challengers, once plastics consist in a diverse complex group of chemical compounds and the composition of its components is not constant.

Each type of plastic has its own different properties depending on its particular composition and use, that is the reason why the plastic market is more limited by the efficiency of separation than the waste demand. The consumption of plastics, particularly engineering plastics has been steadily increasing. In view of the problems associated with the safe disposal of plastic waste, efforts are being made to find efficient ways of recycling this waste. The aim of the present work is to verify plastic (PVC and PET) separation efficiency using a mineral technology operation such as flotation.