Effects of temperature on the compressive properties of extruded recycled unplasticized polyvinylchloride (uPVC) plastics under transverse compressive loading

Abstract

Recycled plastics, over the years, are believed to be inferior to virgin plastics. In this work, the compression test on recycled and virgin unplasticized polyvinylchloride (uPVC) under transverse loading at different temperatures shows that recycled uPVC exhibits better rigidity for all the temperatures considered except at 40°C where a stress at yield of 0.5919MPa and 0.6131 MPa was recorded for recycled and virgin uPVC, respectively. Recycled uPVC shows poor dimensional stability at temperatures between 25°C and 85°C with great improvement at 100°C and 115°C (16.9760% and 22.8960%, respectively) as compared to strain at fracture of 37.1300% and 42.3910%, respectively for virgin uPVC. Recycled uPVC was found to be a reliable, and in some cases, a better alternative to virgin uPVC. Improvement in the mechanical properties of recycled uPVC can be achieved if greater attention is given to purity, homogeneity and previous history of the uPVC regrind.