Welding of PE foils containing recycled material
Weldability of polyethylene foils containing high amounts of recycled material (CircularWeld)
Project duration
From: 01.04.2021 To: 30.09.2023Description
Within the framework of the CircularWeld research project, various polyethylene (PE) types from the virgin material and post-consumer recyclate categories were extruded into 0.5 mm thick film material, characterized, and joined applying ultrasonic welding and heat contact sealing. The analysis of the materials revealed that the PE virgin material was pure PE-LD, while the recyclates were blends of PE-LD and PE-HD, in some cases contaminated with small amounts of polypropylene. The mechanical analysis of the welded films showed that the mechanical level of the non-welded base material can be achieved for both virgin PE and PE recyclates. This was confirmed for both ultrasonic welding and heat contact sealing seams. From the statistical evaluation of the test series, material-specific dependencies of the weld seam strength on the respective process parameters could be determined. Welding tests on blends of virgin material and recyclates only exhibited the expected monotonic dependence of weld seam strength on the blend ratio of the blend in some of the cases considered. The accompanying life cycle assessment also confirmed that the use of PE recyclate to produce films results in a considerable reduction in the environmental impact in all impact categories, but particularly regarding the global warming potential.
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