PLASTIC RECYCLING VIA REACTIVE MELT PROCESSING: ALIPHATIC POLYESTER RECOVERY

PI: Prof. J. N. Kuhn (jnkuhn@usf.edu; 813 974 6498) 

co-PI: Prof. W. Zou (wzou@usf.edu; 813 396 0787) 

University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave ENG030, Tampa FL 33620

Student Researchers: Nicholas Hall (PhD), Fernanda Pimenta (PhD), Race Medema (PhD), and Kayashta Dass (MS)

Sponsor: William W. Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management at the University of Florida

Research Description:

With increasing use and limited economical recycling options available, the dilemma of handling discarded plastics is emerging as a critical issue in contemporary society. Although technologies exist to recycle common plastics such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), the processes are often inefficient and result in performance downgrade. Moreover, emerging plastics that are advertised as compostable are often landfilled where their degradation is stifled. To support the widespread adoption of plastic recycling processes, more economical methods are needed to substantially reduce the material sent to landfills. The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate reactive melt processing for plastic recycling, with the expectation that it will better preserve essential material properties during processing. For our initial effort, we will focus on aliphatic polyesters such as polylactic acid (PLA), which is widely used across industries and commonly found in 3D printing. Once a proof of concept is obtained, we can adapt this approach for high volume commodity plastics (i.e., PE and PP) in a later effort. 

In this work, we propose to conduct feasibility experiments to provide a framework for assessing the extent to which common aliphatic polyesters can be recovered in terms of conversions, throughput, and product characteristics by reactive melt processing. We will couple these data with systems level simulations to determine costs and environmental impact compared to other methods. The proposed effort builds upon recent and ongoing efforts on research and demonstration of radical-mediated polymer melt processing, structure induced changes in polymer flow behaviors, landfill gas to diesel fuel through thermochemical catalytic processes, material circularity via sustainable materials management as well as economic and environmental impact from technologies, which have been funded by the Hinkley Center, Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., Florida Energy Systems Consortium (FESC), the Department of Energy, VentureWell, and T2C-Energy, LLC.

 

Pictures:

 

Technical Awareness Group (TAG):

Our first TAG meeting is coming later this Fall 2025! 

Dr. Tim Townsend	Director	Hinkley Center / UF
John Banks	Senior Business Development Manager	ESG
Travis Barnes	Solid Waste Sustainable Materials Management Manager	Hillsborough County
Ron Beladi	VP	Neel-Schaffer, Inc.
Yolanda Daza	Senior Engineer	Dow
Nada Elsayed	Consultant
Tony Elwell	Staff Engineer I	HSW Engineering INC
Dr. Gita Iranipour	Engineer Associate	Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department
Wei Liu	PE	CDM Smith
Sam Levin	President	S2LI
Linda Monroy	Project Manager Associate	Lee County Solid Waste Division
Luke Mulford	Water Quality Manager	Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department
Rebecca Rodriguez	Engineer Manager II	Lee County Solid Waste Division
Corina Sheridan	Project Development Director	Waga Energy Inc
Devin Walker	CEO	T2CE
Matt Yung	Engineering Manager	NREL

 

We thank the members of our TAG for their service and input.

 

Progress Reports:

First Quarter -

 

 

 

Project supported in funding by William W. Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management at the University of Florida