Application Of Flotation In Separating Plastic Materials

This paper deals with the issue of separation of PLA from PET (polyethylene terephthalate). The currently implemented research at the Institute of Environmental Engineering at the Faculty of Mining and Geology, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, examines the possibilities of separating two materials by means of flotation.Flotation efficiency in relation to changes in the flotation parameters (NaOH concentration, heating time and temperature) was observed in the flotation process of PET and PLA. The experiments implemented to identify the floatability of PLA and PET proved that making use of a suitable concentration of NaOH solution and suitable temperature, it is possible to achieve separation of the two types of plastics.