TY  - EJOU
AU  - Gil-Castell, O. 
AU  - Badia, J. D. 
AU  - Ribes-Greus, A. 

TI  - Suitability of Blends from Virgin and Reprocessed Polylactide: Performance and Energy Valorization Kinetics
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2018
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - A blending strategy of virgin and reprocessed polylactide may be postulated as an alternative to reduce the material cost at industrial level, and as a valorization route to plastic waste management of production scraps. The performance of blends prepared from virgin polylactide and polylactide mechanically reprocessed up to two cycles (PLA-V/R) was assessed in terms of thermo-oxidative stability, morphology, viscoelasticity and thermal kinetics for energetic valorization. PLA-V/R blends showed appropriate thermo-oxidative stability. The amorphous nature of polylactide was preserved after blending. The viscoelastic properties showed an increment of the mechanical blend effectiveness, which suggested the feasibility of using PLA-V/R blends under similar mechanical conditions to those of virgin PLA goods. Finally, it was shown that the energetic valorization of PLA-V/R blends would result in a more feasible process, due to the lower required activation energy, thus highlighting the advantages of the energetic demand for the process. In conclusion, PLA-V/R blends showed similar processability, service performance and valorization routes as virgin PLA and therefore could be relevant in the sustainable circular industry of bioplastics.
KW  - Polylactide (PLA)
KW  -  mechanical recycling
KW  -  reprocessing
KW  -  energetic valorisation
KW  -  thermal analysis

DO  - 10.7569/JRM.2017.634170