Multilayer polymeric film delamination as an alternative for plastic waste recovery

This work aimed to compare two chemical separation methods for multilayer films of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polyamide (PA). The techniques evaluated and compared were delamination and dissolution-precipitation. Once the polymers were obtained, they were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal analysis by thermogravimetry (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The combined method of delamination by dissolution-precipitation allows recover of around 90% of the polymeric fractions of the multilayer film. The characterization techniques used were sufficient to recognize contamination or mixtures of components after the evaluated separation treatments.