DC electrical conductivity of recycled PP and PS from post consumer packaging

This work presents the study on the DC electrical conductivity behavior of two recycled polymers, polypropylene (PP) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS). Post consumer packagings of PP and PS, from municipal solid waste, were collected, sorted, grinding, washed, dried and reprocessed without re-stabilisation. Both polymers were reprocessed in a batch mixer with 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%wt of virgin polymer. Afterward, films were made by hot compression to produce samples for DC resistivity measurement and conductivity calculation. Although both polymers showed a small decrease in resistivity, the polypropylene blends displayed a greater dispersion in the results.