Plastics hav
e b
ecom
e th
e wid
ely us
ed mat
erials b
ecaus
e of th
eir advantag
es, such as ch
eapn
ess,
enduranc
e, lightn
ess, and hygi
en
e. How
ev
er, th
ey caus
e wast
e and soil pollution and th
ey do not
easily d
ecompos
e. Many promising t
echnologi
es ar
e b
eing inv
estigat
ed for s
eparating mix
ed th
ermoplastics, but th
ey ar
e still un
economical and unr
eliabl
e. D
ep
ending on th
eir surfac
e charact
eristics, th
es
e plastics can b
e s
eparat
ed from
each oth
er by flotation m
ethod which is us
eful min
eral proc
essing t
echniqu
e with its low cost and simplicity.
The main objective of this study is to investigate the flotation characteristics of PET and PVC and determine the effect of plasticizer reagents on efficient plastic separation. For that purpose, various parameters such as pH, plasticizer concentration, plasticizer type, conditioning temperature and thermal conditioning were investigated. As a result, PET particles were floated with 95.1 % purity and 65.3 % efficiency while PVC particles were obtained with 98.1 % purity and 65.3 % efficiency.