Thermal cracking of polyethylene terephthalate and low-density polyethylene plastic waste mixtures at low temperature

Plastic solid wastes such as bottled water bottles of the type of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and food wrappers of plastic types Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) cause environmental problems. It is needed the processing methods that can overcome plastic waste. Thermal cracking or pyrolysis is one method of plastic waste treatment. All types of plastics were processed using a pyrolysis reactor at temperatures around 200 oC which successfully treated PET and LDPE plastic waste into liquid fuel and solid residuals. The quality of liquid fuel obtained was analyzed by GC-MS, caloric value, viscosity test, and density test. The oil produced from LDPE 100, PET: LDPE (10:90), and PET: LDPE (12.5: 87.5) had physical properties that were similar to gasoline, but based on the composition of hydrocarbons they were similar to solar (C9-C20). Meanwhile, liquid fuel obtained from PET: LDPE (15:85), had an abundance of aromatic compounds but paraffin was still identified. Therefore, this liquid fuel can be cracked to short-chain paraffin (C5-C10) to obtain gasoline.