Metallised Plastic Film

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Basics

  • Plastic Film, that has had a metal coated on it by some form of Vacuum Deposition
  • Is highly reflective, lighter/stronger than similar pure foils, and is a good insulator/seal
  • Has many uses, but the largest stream is in packaging (Chip/Crisps Bags, Juice Boxes, Box Wine, Boxed Milk from Restraunts, etc)
  • Main issue is difficulty in recycling
  • Also a good cantigate for Upcycling (see Terracycle )

Recycling Methods

Chemical Removal of Metal, then Standard Plastic Workflow

  • This uses washed (shredded?) film, it runs it into a reactor with an acid/solvent to dissolve the metal off the nonreactive film
  • Can also be done in a similar method (other step, can they be merged?) to remove ink from labels etc
  • A Paper on This (Used Sulphuric Acid )

Pyrolysis

  • Not really recycling (at least directly, can be made into new plastics), but it can be put in a Pyrolysis Kiln and the slag should be relitively pure metal

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