Valorization of polyethylene degradation products by blending with PHB biopolyester

BACKGROUND: The biodegradation process of conventional plastics is very slow and can take dozens of years to achieve complete degradation. In order to improve current plastic waste management, research has been focused on identifying the possible routes for using oligomers and degradation products obtained from enzymatic depolymerization/transformation of conventional plastics as building blocks to produce eco-friendly polymeric materials with improved biodegradability and good mechanical properties. RESULTS: We report a possible route for the utilization of polyethylene (PE) oligomers obtained from the degradation of polyethylene to produce new eco-friendly polymeric materials. Polyethylene oligomers containing functional groups such as carboxylic, aldehyde, ketone, ether or ester were used to prepare polymeric blends with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) biopolyester. Polymeric blends of PHB which contained 10, 20 and 30% of oxidized polyethylene oligomers with different acidic numbers were prepared and characterized. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained show that the addition of oxidized PE oligomers to PHB biopolyester improves the mechanical properties of the prepared polymeric materials. A beneficial composition was found for the blend: PHB/oxPE 90/10 (w/w). Moreover, biodegradation tests indicated that the polymeric blends undergo biodegradation, which shows their potential application as new, eco-friendly polymeric materials with a predicted biodegradation rate.