IDENTIFICATION OF PLASTICS

Aquino, Alfredo III; Hernandez, Bryle*; Jose, Hannah; Morata, Reymond Ian

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Engineering

*Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering

ENSC 18 V – 2L

3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 RESULTS 1. All plastics were subjected to a water floatation

3.1.1 RESIN CODE
The Resin Identification Coding System was
introduced by The Society of the Plastics Industry,
Inc (SPI) to reduce wastes by classifying plastics into
different categories for the ease of recycling [1].
Identifying unknown plastics follow a sequence of
tests to determine the Resin Code as shown in Figure
1 for a laboratory setting.
test. The plastics were separated based on whether it
floated or sank to the bottom.
The plastics that floated were subjected to alcohol
floatation tests to determine if it floats or not. The
plastics which floated in the alcohol tests were
subjected to oil floatation test. Plastics that sank to
the bottom during the water floatation tests were
subjected to a copper wire test to determine if the
flame produced is either green or orange. Plastics
which produced an orange flame were subjected to an
acetone test to determine if the plastics would react or
not. The results of the tests are shown in Table 2.

Label Water Test Copper Wire Test Acetone Test Alcohol Test Oil Test Resin Code
A Sink Green Flame 3
B Sink Orange Flame Reaction 6
C Sink Orange Flame No Reaction 1
D Float Sink 2
E Float Float Sink 4
F Float Float Float 5

Table 2.0- Polymer Test Results

Figure 1.0- Polymer Identification Test Flowchart
Six unknown plastics were provided for testing. The
provide plastics have the following characteristics as
shown in Table 1.
LABEL COLOR
A Orange
B Translucent
C Transparent
D White
E Transparent
F Translucent
Table 1.0- Plastic Sample Characteristics
3.3 DISCUSSION
The polymer test starts with the water floatation test
to identify the plastics with high density (ρ>1.0
g/cm3) and those with low density (ρ<1.0 g/cm 3)
since water density is assumed to be 1.0 g/cm 3. Low
density plastics can be subjected to other density tests
by means of floatation tests under different low-
density fluids. High density plastics are subjected to
other tests since it would sink in all fluids used for
the floatation tests. The corresponding densities and
polymer name are shown in Table 3.

3.1.2 PLASTIC IDENTIFICATION

The six plastic samples labeled from A to F acquired

was subjected to testing using the flowchart in Figure
 Resin Code Polymer Name Density
1 Polyethylene Terephthalate 1.38 to 1.39
2 High Density Polyethylene 0.95 to 0.97
3 Polyvinyl Chloride 1.16 to 1.35
4 Low Density Polyethylene 0.92 to 0.94
5 Polypropylene 0.90 to 0.91
6 Polystyrene 1.05 to 1.07
7 Others variable
Table 3.0- Polymers and their Corresponding Resin
Code and Density
Consider sample A, B and C for high density plastics.
Both B and C produced an orange flame while A
produced a green flame. In relation to pyrotechnics,
chlorine is used to manipulate fireworks color into
green [2]. The presence of Chlorine suggests that the
unknown polymer is Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC).
PVC composition is 57% Chlorine derived from
industrial grade salt and 43% Carbon which explains
why the flame turned green [3].
Samples B and C were subjected to acetone test to
identify if the polymer is Polyethylene Terephthalate
(PETE) or Polystyrene (PS). Polystyrene are usually
rigid and transparent and is considered to be a good
polymer in terms of processing but one disadvantage
is its poor resistance to solvents [4]. Based on the
results, sample B reacted to acetone which would
suggest that sample B is Polystyrene (PS) and
sample C is Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE).
Consider samples D, E and F for low density plastics.
Alcohol floatation test was conducted to determine
which plastic has a lower density compared to
alcohol. Alcohol density is assumed to be 0.95 g/cm 3
which would suggest that the sample that would sink
is High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) since its
density ranges from 0.95-0.97 g/cm3 based on its
density on Table 3.0. Based on the results, only
sample D sank to the bottom. This proves that sample
D is High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). The last
test made use of oil which has a density of 0.93
g/cm3. Based on the densities provided in Table 3, the
polymer that would sink is the Low Density
Polyethylene (LDPE). Sample E sank to the bottom
which would suggest that its density is greater than
that of the oil which would prove that the polymer is
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and the
remaining sample F is Polypropylene (PP).
References
1. International Plastics. Resin Identification
Codes- Plastics Recycling Codes. URL:
http://www.interplas.com/help/glossary-
resin-identifiacation
2. Marie Helmenstine. Chemistry of
Fireworks Color. Anne. URL:
https://www.thoughtco.com/chemistry-of-
firework-colors-607341
3. Arjen Sevenster. What is PVC? URL:
http://www.pvc.org/en/p/what-is-pvc
4. UL Engineering. Polystyrene (PS) Plastic.
URL:
https://plastics.ulprospector.com/generics/43
/polystyrene-ps