ADDITIVES | COMPATIBILISERS
Right: PE containing 20% PA6 without a compatibiliser (left image) and with Ingenia Polymers’ INCIRCLE compatibiliser (right image)
bond PA and PE) becomes an effective compatibi- liser during the recycling process, BASF said. “If additional functionalised polyethylene (PE-g-MAH) is also added as a compatibiliser during primary film production, the polyamide is even recognised as a valuable material in the polyethylene recyclate by Cyclos-HTP,” said Mat- thias Zorn, Senior Manager Market Development Polyamides for extrusion applications at BASF. “The results show that PE film waste streams containing PA can be processed without significant adjustments to the recycling process. The certifica- tion confirms the standard market practice of PA-containing film waste already being recycled by film manufacturers today,” he said. Dow’s RecycleReady Technology, which contains the company’s Retain compatibiliser, improves recyclability of multilayer films using polar polymers, such as EVOH or nylon, as barrier layers. Dow said that the additive helps reduce gels and improve clarity and mechanical properties. SK Functional Polymer (SKFP) has evaluated
some of its Lotader terpolymers and Orevac grafted polyolefins as compatibilisers to improve properties of blends of PE and EVOH from recycled multilayer oxygen barrier films. The most efficient compatibiliser was found to be the company’s terpolymer of ethylene (89 wt%), butyl acrylate (6.5%) and maleic anhydride (3.8%). The terpoly- mer (SKFP’s Lotader 4210) at loadings of 2 to 5 wt.% improved mechanical properties, such as dart impact puncture resistance, and optical properties (i.e. reduced gels).
Post-industrial “We see increased development of film structures containing a latent compatibiliser for activation when the flexible packaging goes through the PE store drop-off recycling stream in the US,” said Dale McCormick, Business Manager, Masterbatch for Flexible Packaging at Ingenia Polymers. “This allows for barrier structures [for example, with polyamide
64 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2024
and/or EVOH] to be recycled and brand owners to meet their sustainability goals, more specifically by using packaging that can be recycled.” McCormick also sees increased interest in the
use of compatibilisers for in-house recycling of barrier film scrap, rather than sending the scrap to landfill or incineration. Ingenia’s INCIRCLE IP1601 was introduced in October of 2023 to support this use. The company has successfully completed the third-party lab testing required by the US Associa- tion of Plastic Recyclers (APR) to receive recognition under the APR Design for Recyclability program. “This product allows for film structures with higher levels of polyamide and EVOH to be recycled than was previously possible, due to the improved compatibilisation performance of INCIRCLE IP1601 over other products available in the market,” said McCormick. The masterbatch can be used either as part of the film structure to enable future recycling, or it can be added during compounding of scrap film into recycled pellets. Ingenia Polymers is developing additional
compatibiliser grades for other systems (PE/PP) and evaluating the recycling of PE/PET lamination structures through compounding PE/PET scrap with Ingenia’s INCIRCLE IP1601 to generate rPE/ PET capable of meeting typical can liner specifica- tions. “Early results are very promising and support further field trials. This is an exciting application, as there has been no option for recycling of PE/PET scrap produced during converting operations and the materials are either landfilled or incinerated in most cases,” McCormick said.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.4kenrich.com �
www.byk.com �
www.interfacepolymers.com �
www.basf.com �
www.dow.com �
www.sk-fp.com �
www.ingeniapolymers.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: INGENIA POLYMERS
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