Polyethylene and polyvinylchloride are the most abundant plastic mater
ials in municipal waste. However, no technology is commercially availa
ble so far for an efficient recovery of these materials. We studied th
e separation of polyethylene (PE) from polyvinylchloride (PVC) powder
particles in an electric field separator after tribocharging. Tribocha
rging of the particles took place in a copper-lined cyclone separator.
The influence of electric field strength, relative humidity of the ai
r and particle velocity on the separation efficiency was investigated.
The average recovered content of the PE fractions was >90% at a mass
yield of >60%. The average recovered content of PVC was >40% with an a
verage mass yield of >30%.