Physical and mechanical properties of composites produced from recycled polypropylene and cardboard-polyethylene-aluminium mixture

Plastic-containing waste causes significant environmental pollution because it remains in nature for a long time without degrading. This waste includes polyolefin-based containers, polyethylene terephthalate water bottles and cardboard-polyethylene-aluminium beverage boxes. In recent years, important steps have begun to be taken to eliminate the environmental effects of solid waste. The goal is to reduce this waste by using it to produce new composite products. In this study, composite sheets were produced by mixing polypropylene (PP), obtained from recycled waste plastic chairs, as a polymer matrix and recycled waste Tetra Pak® boxes (TPBs) as filler in different mixing ratios. Density, thickness swelling, water absorption, flexural strength, flexural modulus, deformation at bending, tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break and hardness were determined. According to the data obtained, it was determined that as the amount of filler in the composite increased, the density, thickness swelling, water absorption, flexural modulus, tensile modulus and hardness values increased, whereas the flexural strength, deformation at bending, tensile strength and elongation at break values decreased.