Post-consumer polypropylene recycling for food contact application: the use of fluidized bed systems at the decontamination step

• Grant number: 24/16145-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: February 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Sandra Andrea Cruz
• Grantee: Sophia Helena Felisbino Bonatti
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07296-2 - CDMF - Center for the Development of Functional Materials, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Since the introduction of plastics in many industrial segments, its consumer market has been exponentially growing. However, solid waste generation associated with plastics consumption grows proportionally, as well as the demand for raw material from fossil origins. Having said that, polymer recycling represents an important approach to the maintenance of environmental, energetic and economic health of the planet, with the key parts of sustainable solutions development being the valorization of recycled resins and the feasibility of their use in rigorous applications. Although there are already some well-established recycling processes in industry to obtain food grade PET-PCR, other polymers are also widely used in the food packaging sector and the challenges associated with the decontamination and the mechanical recycling of these resins must be approached more deeply. Therefore, this project seeks to carry out a study about the mechanical recycling of post-consumer polypropylene (PP) and the use of fluidized-bed systems at the decontamination step, aiming to obtain an adequate material for food contact at the end of the process. It is intended to evaluate the effects of the fluidized-bed process parameters and the decontamination and recycling steps in the physical-chemical properties of PP and in the decontamination efficiency, using techniques such as SPME-GC-MS, ICP-MS, FTIR, DSC, TGA and parallel plates reometry.