Changes in ESCR, polydispersity and crystallinity of HPDE with multiple extrusion passes

The amount of research into the recycling of post consumer resins (PCR) such as those derived from high density polyethylene (HPDE) blow moulded resins has increased. While the focus has been on performance properties little work has been done on the environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR) properties. This paper summarizes a designed experiment study where 4 HDPE resins were compared in terms of changes in ESCR with multiple extrusion passes. Virgin homopolymer and copolymer resins and mixed colour bottle PCR and natural PCR, were passed through 4 extrusion cycles.