ANALISIS UJI TARIK DAN STRUKTUR MIKRO CAMPURAN LIMBAH PLASTIK HDPE, PET DAN SERBUK KAYU AKASIA

Plastic is widely used for packaging food, beverages, and various household items. In this study, materials used include HDPE plastic, PET plastic, and acacia wood powder. The manufacturing process involves mixing these plastics with acacia wood powder and then pressing the mixture using a hot press. Testing methods include tensile testing as well as micro and macro structural examinations to observe whether there are any air bubbles in the fractures. The specimen compositions used are HDPE 100%, PET 100%, HDPE 60% : PET 10% : acacia wood powder 30%, HDPE 60% : PET 20% : acacia wood powder 20%, and HDPE 60% : PET 30% : acacia wood powder 10%. Based on the tensile testing, the highest average value was observed in the HDPE 100% composition with a value of 371.23 N and a tensile strength of 19.355 MPa. For the composition of HDPE 60%, PET 20%, and acacia wood powder 20%, the average tensile value was 222.23 N with a tensile strength of 11.575 MPa. It can be concluded that the addition of PET and acacia wood powder did not enhance the tensile strength. Macro testing revealed many air bubbles in each fracture, which were not visible on the surface of the samples. PET plastic did not mix well, while the acacia wood powder was evenly distributed in the samples. Micro testing showed that there were no voids in the HDPE 100% sample, whereas PET 100% had many voids, which contributed to the lower tensile test results. Furthermore, the three mixed compositions still exhibited insignificant air voids.