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Application of solvent-based dissolution method for recycling of ocean plastics and removal of selected persistent organic contaminants
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Lab tests on ocean plastic (HDPE) contaminated with two harmful chemicals showed that dissolving the plastic in solvents and washing it removed over 99% of the contaminants. The recycled plastic kept its molecular structure and processing qualities similar to other recycled plastic, suggesting this method can clean contaminated ocean plastic for reuse.
Ocean plastic pollution represents a critical environmental challenge, with polyolefins accumulating in oceans while acting as a vector for hazardous additives and sorbed persistent organic pollutants. Conventional mechanical recycling cannot remove embedded contaminants and causes progressive polymer degradation, limiting closed-loop implementation. This study investigates solvent-based decontamination of ocean high-density polyethylene (HDPE) through dissolution-precipitation and multi-stage washing, comparing fresh-solvent and counter-current configurations. The ocean HDPE sample was spiked with 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-di-tert-pentylphenol (UV-328) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) (approximately 10,000 μg/g) to simulate worst-case contamination by dissolving in xylene at 108 °C and precipitation via cooling and further aided by addition of an anti-solvent (isopropanol) at 40 °C. The spiked polymer underwent six sequential washing cycles at 40 °C using xylene-isopropanol (1:1 w /w). Removal efficiencies were quantified by GC–MS, while polymer integrity was evaluated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high-temperature gel permeation chromatography (HT-GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and melt flow measurements. Dissolution-precipitation (DP) stage achieved 76% contaminant removal by eliminating diffusion barriers. Further sequential washing increased total removal to 99.98% for both contaminants leaving residual concentrations (in the dry polymer) of 2.14 ± 0.12 μg/g for UV 328 and 3.30 ± 0.06 μg/g for DEHP via the fresh-solvent washing method. 99.83% removal was achieved by counter current extraction method while reducing the demand of solvent recovery by 83%. The recycled HDPE showed preserved molecular weight, removal of inorganic contaminants (>78%), and processability characteristics comparable to reported recycled PE, demonstrating solvent-based decontamination as a viable pathway for ocean plastic waste recycling.
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