REUSE AND DISPOSAL
Harry E. PebZy
40.1 INTRODUCTION
As the United States and the world become
more conscious of the shortage of landfill
space and the need for conservation, they will
be driven to find ways to solve or alleviate the
problem by developing methods for reuse or
other disposal of materials. Composite materi-
als offer a particular challenge because of the
nature of the reinforcements and fillers. In the
case of thermoset composites, the matrix or
resin cannot be remelted or reprocessed as can
be done with thermoplastic matrices. Many of
the non-composite thermoplastics are rou-
tinely collected and recycled in towns and
cities throughout the world. This chapter will
primarily deal with thermoset composites
because of the challenge of finding methods to
put these materials back into use, and in a
viable economic scenario. Most of the recy-
cling effort involves reuse of sheet molding
compound (SMC) because of its considerable
potential in the automotive market and its
emerging economic viability. Technology
involving SMC is usually applicable to bulk
molding compound (BMC)also. Thermoplastic
composites will also be discussed. Hybrid
composites, presumably because of their rela-
tively small usage and more complex makeup,
have had no reported recycling attention, but
some of the reuse technologies described
herein should be useful. Several practical tech-
nologies for recycling and reuse have been
Handbook of Composites.Edited by S.T. Peters. Published
in 1998 by Chapman & Hall, London. ISBN 0 412 54020 7
40
developed but the problem of markets for the
reprocessed composites remains largely
unsolved.
Plastics recycling is generally classified into
four categories by final product or by-product,
as follows:
1. Primary: Recycling a plastic product into an
identical or similar new product;
2. Secondary: Recycling a plastic product into
a new product that has less demanding
physical or chemical properties;
3. Tertiary: Converting plastic wastes into
basic chemicals or fuels through a process
such as pyrolysis;
4. Quaternary: Burning the plastics and recov-
ering their heat energy.
Composites are recycled in all of these cate-
gories, with the fourth, burning for energy
recovery, of the least value.
40.2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Recycling of certain commodity thermoplas-
tics, particularly polyethylene (PE) and
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has
become a routine matter in thousands of
cities and towns in the past few years. There
have been upturns and downturns in recent
years in balancing availability of PE and PET
with demand for products and markets. One
example is the demand for plastic soda bot-
tles for conversion to polyester for garments
(Disenhouse, 1994). The situation illustrates
an important point, common to all industries:
it is not only a question of developing tech-
884 Reuse and disposal
nologies for reuse but making it economically
viable to do so.
Activity in recycling thermoset composites
in Europe, particularly Germany, precedes
that in the USA. The action is driven by legis-
lation and public opinion, as is the case in
Japan also.
40.3 RAW MATERIAL FORMS
40.3.1 REINFORCEMENTS
Glass fiber
Glass fiber is the most widely used reinforce-
ment in the world, with nearly 1.2 million
metric tons used in 1992 to reinforce 50 or more
different engineering thermoplastic and ther-
moset resins. Various processes used to recycle
or separate the glass from the resin affect the
nature and quality of the recovered glass. First
quality glass can be reused directly, without
further processing, in a new composite mater-
ial. Other processes yield a glass that will
require chemical resizing to renew its interfacial
bonding to the resin. When the glass suffers
deterioration in strength or contamination in
recycling, the glass fiber must be refibered or
remelted before it can be used again.
Commercially viable technology that will
allow widespread use of recycled and contam-
inated glass in reinforcement manufacturing
processes is now being developed.
Implementation of this technology will open
up glass remelting and fiberization as a viable
recycling approach, making it possible to con-
template truly closing the loop for glass
reinforcement (Graham,Jutte and Shipp, 1993).
In thermoplastic recycling, a mixed stream
of resin often occurs. Addition of virgin glass
fibers has been shown to provide improved
properties in mixed thermoplastics. Use of
recycled glass fibers would therefore benefit
both thermoplastic recycling as well as glass.
The glass could be obtained from recycled
thermoplastics or thermosets, either as a
regrind or from one of the other approaches.
Carbon fiber
Carbon fibers can be recovered from uncured
epoxy prepreg scrap by two methods. One is
by use of an organic solvent agitated bath
which washes out the resin. The second
employs thermal degradation, below 400°C
(750"F), to eliminate the epoxy. The resulting
fibers are cut to length 23 mm (0.10 in) for use
with aligned discontinuous fibers and provide
improved drapability for complex shapes
(Norris, 1990). Because fiber and fiber scraps
are randomly oriented, the cutting operation
should be carried out in two directions, neces-
sitating a special cutting device (Richter and
Brandt, 1987). Aligning short fibers results in
composites with mechanical properties that
are below those of long fiber reinforced mate-
rials, but considerably above those of short
fiber reinforced injection and compression
molded composites.
40.3.2 RESINS
Work has been done to develop epoxies, poly-
imides and unsaturated polyesters for
recovery (Section 40.4.2). The reversal of
chemical reactions utilized to produce ther-
moset and thermoplastic polymers to
regenerate monomers or beginning chemicals
is covered below (Section 40.4.4). It is possible
to extract polyester resin from uncured SMC
and reuse the glass fiber in both SMC and
BMC. The extraction is done by solvent
extraction with mechanical agitation.
40.3.3 PREIMPREGNATED MATERIALS
(PREPREGS)
A multi-year program, beginning in 1991, is
underway on carbon/epoxy prepreg scrap
recycling at the Center of Excellence for
Composites Manufacturing Technology
(CECMT), operated for the US Navy by the
Great Lakes COmposites Consortium (GLCC).
The priority of the scrap program at CECMT is
illustrated by the fact that for every

0.45 kg (1lb) of composite materials used in
aircraft, ship or missile manufacture,
0.90 kg (2 lb) of material ends up in landfills.
The average ratio is 1.3 to 1. This waste
includes both material generated by the mate-
rial supplier and material generated by the
end item manufacturer. In time, composite
scrap produced at repair facilities will add to
this total. Approximately $1billion of all types
of raw prepreg is wasted annually and $25
million is spent on its disposal, according to
information prepared for the Naval Industrial
Resources Support Activity (Broudy, 1993).
Another concern is with the legal status of
prepreg waste: is it considered hazardous?
Both state and federal regulations must be
considered. California, for one, has require-
ments for cured and uncured waste and its
disposal. Other state requirements may vary
for both material forms.
The objective of the CECMT program is to
develop a plan for reclamation of
carbon/epoxy prepreg scrap and demonstrate
the recyclability of the material, based on a
survey of users which revealed that carbon/
epoxy is the major prepreg contributing to the
waste stream. This scrap or waste material is
sometimes referred to as 'offal'. The aerospace
industry generates 60-80% of the prepreg
offal, with 50% of the total in broad goods
form. The most widely used epoxide is
tetraglycidylmethylenedianaline (TGMDA)
cured with diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS).
Other accomplishments of the program, as
reported by Lause (1993) of GLCC, are as fol-
lows. A low speed, high torque shredder was
found to be best for cutting high tensile and
high shear strength carbon fibers. Other cut-
ting blades evaluated were guillotine, carbide,
slitter and shear types. A low torque machine
did not give a clean cut. The shredder employs
two cutting blades, rotating inwards or
counter to one another, powered by a 30 hp
motor. Shredder input was the scrap prepreg
collected from Gerber cutters, i.e. random size
and shape. The offal was cut into 50 mm (2 in)
Reuse technologies 885
flakes and molded into test panels. Mechanical
and physical properties were found to be 80%
of that obtained with virgin prepreg. Work
was then begun to use material directly from
the shredder, to avoid cutting the high tensile
strength material into 50 mm (2 in) flakes.
Early indications are that approximately the
same strengths can be obtained with the ran-
domly oriented material. Preliminary analysis
indicates that most epoxies can be comingled
and coprocessed.
Niche markets are being sought for uses of
the reclaimed prepreg, based on the 80%
strength obtained and the comparatively lim-
ited amount of carbon/epoxy produced in the
US, estimated to be 5.5 x lo6kg (2.5 million lb)
annually. Markets are sought which would
provide highest profitability for the manufac-
turer; sporting goods and medical prosthesis
devices are possibilities.
40.4 REUSE TECHNOLOGIES
Cured thermoset composites undergo the fol-
lowing steps in preparation for reuse. Cutting
complete items ( e g boats) into small pieces
suitable for handling for shredding is the first
step in the process. Items 1.35-1.80 m2
(15-20 ft2).in size or scrap (cured or uncured)
may go directly to shredding. Shredding
reduces the material to sizes suitable for the
next step, whether it be particle preparation
(grinding, milling, granulating) or pyrolysis.
Shredding will not be necessary for pyrolysis
if the item can be accommodated in the pyrol-
ysis furnace. Classification of the shredded
material or of the resulting particles will be
required if more than one product is desired
(eg. glass fiber and powder). Shredding for
most experimental work provides chips (or
piecesj50 mm x 400 mm ( 2 in x 8 in) to 50 mm
x 50 mm ( 2 in x 2 in); granulation gives 9 mm
(3/8 in) and smaller particles; and grinding or
milling a powder, suitable for filler, of 50 pm
or less. Size of particles and powder is deter-
mined by screen size.
886 Reuse and disposal
40.4.1 MECHANICAL GRANULATION OR
MILLING
Mechanical granulation is probably receiving
the most attention as a method for reuse of the
final composite, whether it be waste from the
molding process or the cured product.
Polyester (unsaturated) SMC, because of its
predominant place in the total spectrum of
thermoset composites, is the material form of
most interest. For example, the total automo-
tive usage for SMC in 1993 is estimated to be
342 x lo6 kg (155.6 x lo6 lb) and the SMC
Automotive Alliance projected a 55%jump to
more than 594 x lo6 kg (270 x lo6 lb) by 1995
(Wigotsky, 1993).Phenolic and urethane-based
thermoset composites have also been demon-
strated to be recyclable by mechanical milling
to a reinforcing filler. Further, it appears that
fully milled thermoset can be reused as filler in
an indefinite number of cycles without loss of
performance.
Mechanical recycling methods are based on
using SMC scrap directly without alteration of
its chemical nature. The SMC scrap is shred-
ded and/or ground into a form which can be
used as a filler. Ball or hammer milling, cryo-
genic grinding and knife granulating are used
for mechanical granulation. A typical granula-
tor uses double cross-angled blades rotating
against an opposing angled blade, while a
hammer mill reduces material size by the
hammer revolving at high speeds and cutting
by impact in mid air. The entire SMC article
may be ground to a fine powder (including all
the glass fiber). The other approach is to shred
and mill the SMC article in a manner which
will recover some glass fibers which are sepa-
rated from the particulate material (powder).
Recovery of some glass fiber is important
from a cost-effectiveness basis because fibers
have more commercial value as a reinforce-
ment filler (versus particulate filler). Also, it
requires more energy to grind all of the fiber
into a powder, then to recover a portion of the
glass fibers. Premix found the most economi-
cal process to regrind scrap consisted of a
granulator, a hammer mill pulverizer and a
classifier. Each piece of machinery is commer-
cially available,: custom design is-not required
(Butler, 1991).
In the USA, the SMC Automotive Alliance,
Owens-Corning and Premix are among the
leaders in fiberglass composite recycling, but
other proprietary recycling activity is also
being carried on (Section 40.10).
Canadian work is being done by Phoenix
Fiberglass Inc. and Plastiglas Industries
(Darrah, 1993). Phoenix Fiberglass, through a
mechanical process, is able to separate the two
components of a laminate that include the
glass reinforcement in the form of fibers and
the thermoset resin in the form of a powder. In
the pilot plant, the waste laminate was
inspected for contaminants before it was intro-
duced into the recycling process, with the
result that long and short fibers as well as two
types of fillers or resin extenders were recov-
ered.
Plastiglas Industries Ltd recycles its own
waste composites, but has developed the
methodology to combine waste composites
with other materials from other sources, as
well as with other virgin materials. These
other materials may come from the blue box
program (a curbside collection effort), from
sandblasting operations that want to dispose
of their waste from sanding operations, and
even crushed concrete.
Materials that have been identified for use
according to a certain recipe will be sorted by
size. Depending on the end-use, pieces that
range in size from 6-200 mm (0.254 in) can be
used. When the material that is to be used in a
recipe is larger than 200 mm (8 in), it is
reduced to the required size. This part of the
operation may use a specially built water-
cooled diamond wire saw, which can handle
pieces up to and including 3 m (10 f t ) in diam-
eter and/or 3 m (10 ft) square. If further size
reduction is required, shredders and grinders
are used to achieve the proper particle size
A significant German program was
sparked by public and political pressure upon
 Reuse technologies 887

the plastics industry to become responsible Milled SMC is being used in several automo-
for the reuse and cost of their products at their tive parts. Up to now there has been no
end-of-life (Schaefer and Plowgian, 1993).The technical development reported of a fiber
major companies from the SMC/BMC market recovery method. Pyrolysis is another impor-
founded ERCOM Composites Recycling tant reuse technology.
GmbH. The proposed German Refuse Act for The Swedish Institute of Composites con-
car recycling, with its priority for material centrated on evaluating several proprietary
recycling, also provided impetus for action. formulations of SMC using two reground frac-
ERCOM offers a complete system to close the tions: one powdered fraction with sizes in the
loop between used parts from automotive ser- range of 200 pm - 1mm and one fibrous frac-
vice and disassembly plants and the reuse of tion with sizes of up to 500 pm (Pettersson and
fibrous reinforcing material in new SMC com- Nilsson, 1993).The reground SMC came from
pounds: automotive bumpers supplied by ERCOM.
Existing grinding and fractioning techniques
0 a mobile shredding truck that crushes used
were used.
parts at disassembly and production sites;
0 transport the compacted material to a cen-
tralized fractionizing plant; 40.4.2 REVERSIBLE CROSSLINKING
0 produce a range of fiber rich recyclate mate-
The Department of Energy has sponsored
rial to sell back to SMC producers and other
work at Polytechnic University, Brooklyn,
end users.
New York, to develop experimental thermoset
The mobile shredder and fractionizing plant polymers designed for recovery (Tesoro et al.,
have been in operation since the beginning of 1992). Tesoro has shown that it is feasible to
1992. The mobile shredder reduces the size of recover chemical compounds and polymers
large parts to a chip size of about from epoxies, polyimides and unsaturated
50 mm x 50 mm (2 in x 2 in). This is a volume polyesters. Designing the polymers for recy-
reduction of a factor of five. The commonly cling by introducing labile bonds is utilized for
used metallic inserts in automotive parts do epoxy resins crosslinked with disulfide-con-
not have to be removed beforehand. In fact, taining curing agents and for disulfide-
preshredding to this predetermined chip size containing polyimide copolymers. Stress-
is an essential requirement to assure removal strain curves for epoxy resins cured with a
of metallic parts in the next processing step. disulfide-curing agent, dithiodianiline
The preshredded material is then processed (DTDA) and a commercial aromatic diamine
automatically through a series of pneumatic curing agent (MDA) show the equivalence of
and mechanical fractionizing steps. It is essen- the DTDA to MDA. Solubilizationof the cured
tial to remove metallic parts in this sequence to thermosets by reduction of disulfide bonds
assure a metal free product. A hammer mill is provides sites for re-curing. Epoxies may also
used for the grinding step. The resulting fiber- be crosslinked with a polyfunctional reagent
rich recyclate can be produced in a series of which reacts with thiol groups formed in
fractions containing a mixture of glass fibers, reduction. Tesoro has also worked on obtain-
fillers and resin. ing chemical products from cured unsaturated
The emphasis in Japanese composite recy- polyesters (UP) (Tesoro and Wu, 1993). The
cling has been in dismantling or cutting up focus of the investigation was on chemical
large fabricated parts, particuarly fishing ves- reactions of well established UP structures to
sels and boats, bathtubs, and tanks (Kitamura, yield soluble, well-characterized chemical
1993).Shredding is best done by a non-gearing products that would be suitable as raw mate-
type or a rotary shock shearing type shredder. rials for synthesis. Neutral hydrolysis was
888 Reuse and disposal
found to be a viable approach through cleav-
age of ester bonds, giving phthalic acid in
good yield and soluble carboxyl-containing
oligomers of potential utility were isolated.
Recovered oligomers for acid curing of
epoxy resin systems have been explored with
encouraging results. Smooth transparent films
perhaps suitable for coatings have been
obtained. The use of recovered oligomer as
saturated acid in the ex novo synthesis of UP
resins has also shown promise.
40.4.3 PYROLYSIS
Pyrolysis is the controlled thermal degrada-
tion of an organic material into one or more
recoverable substances through the applica-
tion of heat in an oxygen-free environment.
Pyrolysis should not be confused with inciner-
ation, which is the total oxidation of all the
organic materials. Pyrolysis has been used for
years to reduce plastic and rubber wastes, par-
ticularly the stockpiles of used tires.
Pyrolyzing SMC in the USA, however, is rela-
tively new.
Primary emphasis to date has been applied
to scrap materials in the manufacturing
process. Ultimately, recycling of parts at the
end of their application life cycle must be
addressed if elimination of all SMC from land-
fill is to be achieved.
Pyrolysis has a major advantage in that it is
well suited to handling contaminated scrap,
i.e. SMC which contains paint, adhesives, fas-
teners or is mixed with other materials.
The SMC Automotive Alliance of the SPI
Composites Institute (1991), a group of mater-
ial suppliers and molders, has worked on
pyrolysis of SMC auto scrap. In its early
stages, the main problem was shredding and
feeding materials into the pyrolysis equip-
ment. A discrete chip with minimum polyester
breakup is needed to make the process cost
effective. By-product utilization is the other
factor which will influence the feasibility of
the process for SMC waste disposal.
In Japan, The Ship Research Institute (SRI)
carried out experiments in cooperation with
Michimae using a batch type external heating
pyrolysis furnace (Kitamura, 1993). The sys-
tem was conducted for scrapped reinforced
plastic (RP) ship material. When material is
heated for about 10 min, gas is produced and
more gas can be collected as the temperature
rises. The amount of gas which can be col-
lected reaches a peak at 275°C (527°F).The gas
produced is either water cooled or run
through a heat exchanger to yield some pyro-
oil and the rest, gas. The RP used in the
experiment had a 40 wt YOof glass content as is
common for RP used in ships. The residue is
fiberglass and carbon, i.e. 40 wt YO and 12
wt YO, respectively.
The Japan Marine Recreation Association
under the Ministry of Transport and Sasakawa
Foundation has been developing a mobile
pyrolysis/incineration system for RP ships
since 1990. It is economically advantageous for
large structures like RP ships to be treated as
they are without pre-processing. The mobile
pyrolysis/incineration system comprises two
trailers, each of which has a body 7 m (23 ft)
long, and 2.6 m (8.6 ft) wide, holding a
destructive distillation furnace and a rotary
kiln, respectively. The system first pyrolyzes
an RP ship into pieces less than 6 m (20 ft) in
length under a temperature condition of about
400°C (750°F). After shredding into small
pieces, removing metals and moving to the
second trailer on which a kiln is loaded, the
residue is then incinerated in the rotary kiln. A
pilot plant on land has been constructed and
tested and mobile pyrolysis/incineration sys-
tem trailers will be completed in 1993.
40.4.4 CHEMICAL DEGRADATION
Under the proper conditions, the chemical
reactions that are utilized to produce ther-
moset and thermoplastic polymers can be
reversed to regenerate the various monomers
involved. Among these are the 'chem-olysis'
processes: hydrolysis, glycolysis, methanoly-
sis, aminolysis, as well as polyurethane (PUR)

foam and reaction injection molding (RIM)
depolymerization, saponification, refinery
cracking, and thermal 'unzipping' of poly-
olefins.
Since these approaches take the organic
polymers back to more basic chemical build-
ing blocks, they have the potential advantage
of yielding known chemical streams that can
be converted, using existing purification and
polymerization technology, to new polymer
with properties equivalent to the virgin poly-
mer. The depolymerization processes will also
free up the glass reinforcement used in the
composite. In the polyester field, chemical
degradation is being utilized primarily for
polyethylene terephthalate (PET).Inasmuch as
this thermoplastic is primarily used without
reinforcement, e.g. bottles and film packaging,
no detailed attention will be given here.
Typical products obtained in chemical degra-
dation or depolymerization are dimethyl
terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG).
Pyrolysis, another form of chemical degrada-
tion, has been discussed previously; it is a
practical recycling process for unsaturated
polyester (SMC).
40.4.5 HEAT CLEANING
Heat cleaning has been utilized in recovering
useful products from scrap circuit board lami-
nates (Hanson, 1991). Pennisula Copper
Industries, after removing the copper from the
board, has found it can heat finished or inter-
mediate thermoset composite products,
completely volatilize the epoxy resin, and
recover the glass fibers with much of the
strength of new fibers. The key is a carefully
controlled temperature profile as the scrap
moves through the furnace (called a calciner),
and control of the process gases. The solidified
gases are also potentially useful by-products.
40.4.6 FUEL
Liquid waste from producing SMC and BMC
has found use as fuel. By introducing a chem-
Properties and products of recycled materials 889
ical solvent which is blended both in the waste
paste and waste resin, to keep them in a
pumpable state, Premix has used the waste to
fuel cement kilns (Butler, 1991). This waste
will be used to fire the kiln and then the ash
from the firing is put into the cement. This
process also eliminates the need to landfill the
ash. Some bathtub manufacturers in Japan use
special incinerators to recover the steam for
boilers from the waste. However, in this case,
secondary treatment equipment is necessary
to prevent air pollution.
40.4.7 DISPOSAL/RECYCLING MODELS FOR
REUSE TECHNOLOGIES
A disposal/recycling model for composite
waste material has been developed by Vital
Visions Corp. to help evaluate practical and
cost effective disposal or recovery methods
(Wood, 1991). The State of Minnesota has
funded a study for development of an eco-
nomic model to determine if collection of fiber
reinforced plastic scrap from processors can
produce profitable products, either materials
or end-use goods (McDermott, 1992).
40.5 PROPERTIES AND PRODUCTS OF
RECYCLED MATERIALS
Because of the big supply and the big market
(automotive), the most effort in thermoset
recycling has been in particle recycling of glass
fiber reinforced polyester, predominantly
SMC. It appears that fully milled thermoset
can be reused as a filler in an indefinite num-
ber of cycles without loss of performance.
Pyrolysis degrades the mechanical properties
of the glass fiber but fiber is still useful as a
particulate filler.
The approaches for the recycling of glass
reinforced thermoplastic composites utilize
the technology already developed for the
non-reinforced polymers used in packaging.
However, the thermally induced chemical
degradation of thermoplastics and the physi-
cal attrition of glass fibers that occurs during
890 Reuse and disposal

repeated extrusion and injection molding erties with the regrind. The density
require attention. decreases, as found by other researchers, in
this case about 10% at the highest loading.
LORIA@(a registered trademark of Ashland
40.5.1 SHEET AND BULK MOLDING
Oil Inc.) and Diffract0 analyses were also
COMPOUNDS
conducted. The outcome of both tests show
Owens-Coming reports in Table 40.1 some that 30 phr material gave the best surface.
properties of SMC containing filler made from Beyond the 30 phr loading, the surface deteri-
recycled SMC (Graham, Jutte and Shipp, 1993). orated.
Replacing the calcium carbonate filler with In the BMC evaluation, Premix found very
ground SMC actually improves most mechani- little effect on the mechanical properties, with
cal properties. Fibers that have been recovered slight decreases in tensile strength, flexural
from SMC by mechanical separation show modulus and notched Izod as the regrind
even greater potential reinforcement value. loading increased. Owens-Corning has shown
Premix Inc. evaluated several formulation that unfractionated, granulated SMC, still con-
of SMC and BMC, using scrap materials in taining fiber with considerable length and
varying ratios (30%, 58% and 8S0/0) (Butler, aspect ratio, provides some reinforcement
1991). Beyond 88%, the material viscosity was value in BMC (Table 40.3).
unmanageable. The SMC formula used for Work by ERCOM in Germany evaluated
the regrind studies was a typical automotive properties at three recyclate contents obtained
formulation (Table 40.2). Their data show that in SMC compounds using SMC recyclate
only slight changes occur in mechanical prop- obtained from scrap and used parts (Schaefer

Table 40.1 Propertics of SMC containing composite filler made from recycled SMC (20% carbon carbonate
replaced with composite filler)

Standard formulation Low Density formulation

Control Recycled Control Recycled
Tensile strength, MPa 77.6 97.9 105.6 95.5
(psi) (11250) (14 195) (15 310) (13 850)
Tensile modulus, MPa 11 590 12 970 8 927 10 670
(psi x lo6) (1.68) (1.88) (1.29) (1.53)
Flexural strength, MPa 186.0 210.0 163.2 195.1
(psi) (26 970) (30 450) (23 665) (28 290)
Flexural modulus, MPa 8 970 9 867 8 683 9 325
(psi x lo6) (1.30) (1.43) (1.26) (1.35)
Notched izod, J/m 953 1018 824 888
(ft lb/in.) (17.8) (19) (15.4) (16.6)
Unnotched izod, J/m 1164 1388 981 958
(ft lb/in.) (21.8) (26) (18.4) (17.9)
Water absorption (YO) 0.31 0.28 0.20 0.19
Specific gravity, g/cm3 1.76 1.81 1.32 1.33
(lb/fP) (110) (113) (82.4) (83)
 Properties and products of recycled materials 891

Table 40.2 Typical automotive formulation control

PHR Basted on paste % BOT %

Polyester resin 55 1.3 14.13
Polyvinyl acetate LPA 40 13.69 10.27
Styrene 5 1.71 1.28
Tertiary butyl perbenzoate 1.5 0.52 0.38
Zinc stearate 4 1.37 1.03
Wetting agent 8 2.60 1.95
Calcium carbonate 175 59.91 44.93
Magnesium hydroxide 4 1.37 1.03
Glass 25% 25.00

30 pkr regrind PHR Basted on paste % BOT %

Polyester resin 55 18.83 14.13
Polyvinyl acetate LPA 40 13.69 10.27
Styrene 5 1.71 1.28
Tertiary butyl perbenzoate 1.5 0.51 0.38
Zinc stearate 4 1.37 1.03
Wetting agent 8 2.60 1.95
Calcium carbonate 145 49.91 37.43
Regrind 30 10.00 7.50
Magnesium hydroxide 4 1.37 1.03
Glass 25% 25.00

Table 40.3 Properties of BMC reinforced with recycled glass reinforced SMC

Tensile Elongat ion Flexural ~-

Izod impact
sMc
Added
Stress,
Mpa
Modulus, (%) Stress, Modulus, Notched, Unnotcked,
(%) MPa MPa MPa J h J h
Sample (psi) (psi x IO6) (psi) (psi x IO6) cfl lb/in) (ftlb/in)
BMC 0 27.9 13 099 0.44 96.7 10 548 270
control (4 045) (1 9) (14 020) (1.51) (5.1)
Stnd. BMC 6 16.1 9 858 0.68 68.6 9 789 270
+ SMC (2 334) (1.43) (9 947) (1.40) (5.1)
Stnd. BMC 12 17.3 12 685 0.22 71.4 10 203 209
+ SMC (2 508) (1.W (10 350) (1.46) (3.9)
BMC Resin 70 25.8 7 859 0.36 55.4 6 411 89
+- SMC (3 740) (1.14) (8 033) (0.98) (1.6)

and Plowgian, 1993). Table 40.4 shows that
strength can be maintained and there is a
reduction in density. The latter implies a lower
weight for a given car part, an added benefit
for the auto recycling evaluation underway.
In Japan, the RTC (RP Recycling and
Treatment Council) of the Japan Reinforced
Plastics Society, as the final step in a complete
recycling evaluation beginning with cutting
up and shredding large RP parts, obtained
physical and mechanical property data for
SMC where CaCO, was replaced with varying
892 Reuse and disposal

Table 40.4 Comparison of properties of SMC com- (SICOMP) performed mechanical testing on a
pounds using recyclate low-shrink SMC with 20% 25 mm (1in) glass
reinforcement and a 50% reduction of the cal-
Base 5% 10% 15% cium carbonate filler, down to 80 phr
Flex-strength, 194 222 185 208 (Pettersson and Nilsson, 1993).Improved flex-
MPa (psi) (28 130) (32 190) (26 825) (30 160) ural strength together with slightly reduced
Impact,kJ/m2 102 107 126 145 flexural modulus was obtained for the SMC
(ft lb/in) (19.4) (20.4) (24.0) (27.6) containing 10% reground material.
Density, g/cm3 1.90 1.85 1.80 1.72
(lb/ ft") (118.6) (115.5) (112.4) (107.4) Evaluation of a virgin PET polyester and
one prepared from reclaimed PET has been car-
Note. Recyclate content calculated as a percent of total ried out by DeMaio (1991).Although the resins
weight of compound.
did not contain reinforcements and therefore
amounts of regrind (Kitamura, 1993). Tables may not truly belong in a book on composites,
40.5 and 40.6 present these data and confirm the test data are of interest while considering
results by other investigators that mechanical SMC and BMC above. Tables 40.7 and 40.8
properties are not harmed (in fact, in some show that no significant differences of liquid or
cases improved) and the density is lowered. physical properties exist between the two
The Swedish Institute of Composites materials once processed into a polyester resin.

Table 40.5 Physical/mechanical properties of recycled SMC - standard type

Formulation
Materials 1 2 3
Resin 100 100 100
CaCO, 125 78 36
Reground 0 32 60
GF (1in) (Yo) 30 30 30

Properties
Shrinkage (YO) 0.06 0.07 0.08
Specific gravity, g/cm3 1.73 1.64 1.59
(Ib/fP) (108.0) (102.4) (99.3)
Flexural strength, MPa 200 213 186
(psi) (29 000) (30 885) (26 970)
Flexural modulus, GPa 12.3 11.8 11.4
(psi x lo6) (1.78) (1.71) (1.65)
Tensile strength, MPa 78 77 79
(psi) (11310) (11 165) (11455)
Tensile modulus, GPa 11.8 11.5 11.2
(psi x lo6) (1.71) (1.67) (1.62)
Izod impact, mJ/mm2' 82.0 87.4 86.0
(ft lb/in) (15.6) (16.6) (16.4)

*edgewise, unnotched
 Properties and products of recycled materials 893

Table 40.6 Physical/mechanical properties of recycled SMC - class A SMC

Formulation
Materials 2 2 3
Resin 100 100 100
CaCO, 180 123 76
Reground 0 38 70
GF (1in), Yo 28 28 28
Properties
Shrinkage, Yo 0.00 0.00 0.00
Specific gravity, g/cm3 1.85 1.77 1.68
(lb/ft? (115.4) (110.5) (104.9)
Water absorption, % 0.44 0.39 0.30
Surface quality 3.6 3.8 5.6
average deviation (p)"
Flexural strength, MPa 190 178 167
(psi) (27 550) (25 810) (24 215)
Flexural modulus, GPa 11.5 10.9 10.4
(psi x IO6) (1.66) (1.58) (1.51)
Tensile strength, MPa 85 82 68
(psi) (12 325) (11890) (9 860)
Tensile modulus, GPa 11.0 10.7 10.2
(psi x lo6) (1.60) (1.55) (1.48)
Izod impact, mJ/mm2' 76.5 81.5 78.5
(ft lb/in) (14.6) (15.5) (14.9)
*edgewise, unnotched;
"Takeda method.

40.5.2 PHENOLIC (PF) AND POLYURETHANE to 30% recycled content. The recycled PUR
(PUR) COMPOSITES must be ground into a fine powder before
reprocessing to obtain the Class-A surface.
While the major activity in thermosets has been
with unsaturated polyesters (SMC and BMC),
property data have also been reported on recy-
40.5.3 RECYCLED THERMOPLASTIC
cled glass reinforced PF, Table 40.9 (Olson, COMPOSITES
1992)and PUR, Table 40.10 (Graham, Jutte and
Shipp, 1993). Work to recycle reinforced PUR Glass-filled polypropylene (PP) has received
will increase as structural reaction injection the most attention, perhaps because of its
molding (SRIM) finds more use in structural potential for automotive use. Owens-Corning
applications and PUR presumably continues to studied the effects of repeated recycling by
be the resin most used. Krauss-Maffei granulation of the PP and injection molding
(Germany)has a new RIM system that can pro- (Graham, Jutte and Shipp, 1993). Table 40.11
duce exterior auto body panels with a Class-A shows a loss in properties caused by polymer
surface from reinforced PUR that includes up degradation and a decreasing fiber length.
894 Reuse and disposal

Table 40.7 Mechanical property comparison data; Table 40.8 Liquid property comparison data
recycled PET
Recycled Virgin
Measured property
Recycled Virgin PET PET
Measured property PET
PET 470 420
Viscosity, cps
Flexural strength, MPa 117.9 121.4
(17 400) (17 600) YO Solids 60.1 60.8
(psi)
Specific gravity 1.098 1.102
Flexural modulus, MPa 3586 3586
(lo6psi) (0.52) (0.52) Acid number, solids basis 17 20
Tensile strength, MPa 65.5 67.6 180°FSPI gel test
(psi) (9 500) (9 800) (catalyzed with 1% BPO)
Tensile elongation, YO 2.5 2.8 Gel time, min 6.5 6.0
Barcol hardness 49 47 Cure time, min 1.7 1.5
HDT, "C 419 414 Peak 225 229
(OF) (215) (212) temperature "C (OF) (438) (444)
Izod impact, kJ/m 0.16 0.18
(ft lb/in) (3.1) (3.4)
Water absorption, OO/ 2.0 1.8
glass fiber. The results of additional glass in
injection molded recycled PP are contained in
Two viable approaches to overcome the prop- Table 40.13.
erty loss are the introduction of polymer Jutte and Graham (1991) considered the
additives and the use of additional glass. Table effect on properties of PP containing granu-
40.12 presents data to show the improvement lated SMC. Both coarse and fine recycled SMC
in recycled PP with the addition of Polybond were evaluated at three filler levels. Modulus
3001 (BP Chemicals), an acid functionalized was improved and unnotched Izod impact
PP. The recycled PP was Himont Pro-Fax 6523 properties decreased; the data are tabulated in
with 6 mm (0.25 in) Owens-Corning R-34B Table 40.14.

Table 40.9 Mechanical properties of recycled glass reinforced phenolic

Regrind fypical
40% resin -+ 50% resin + 60% resin +
properties of
60% regrind 50% regrind 40% regrind
virgin material
Density, g/cm3 1.45 1.43 1.40 1.61
(lb/fP) (90.5) (89.3) (87.4) (100.5)
Compressive strength, MPa 252 263 273 230
(ksi) (36.5) (38.1) (39.6) (33.4)
Flexural strength, MPa 100.0 102.0 83 110
(ksi) (14.5) (14.8) (12) (16)
Notched Izod, kJ/m2 2.05 1.98 2.03 3.6
(ft lb/in) (0.39) (0.38) (0.39) (0.69)
Unnotched Izod, kJ/m2 7.8 8.6 6.4 8.0
(ft lb/in) (1.49) (1.63) (1.22) (1.52)
 Properties and products of recycled materials 895

Table 40.10 Properties of 10% regrind RIM in glass dation. NBC SRIM systems can be ground,
filled polyurethane dried and injection molded either neat or
blended with nylon-6. Recycling evaluations
Standard + utilized materials flaked to a granular size of
Standard 10% regrind
system < 200pm approximately 2 mm (0.08 in). Comparison of
NBC SRIM properties to recycled (via injection
Flexural modulus, N/mm2 900 836 molding) part properties masks the possible
(psi x lo6) (0.13) (0.12) effects of the injection molding process due to
Tensile strength, N/mm2 28.0 24.6 the inherent differences in reinforcement
(psi) (4 060) (3 570) length. For this purpose, comparison of unre-
Tensile modulus, N/mm2 750 569 inforced NBC RIM and injection molded,
(psi x lo6) (0.11) (0.08) recycled NBC provides a better understanding
of the effect of the recycling process on the
Elongation, YO 160 133
resin matrix (Table 40.15). As the test data indi-
Hardness, Shore D 59 63 cates, the initial injection molding cycle does
Density g/cm3 1.18 1.20 not adversely affect the properties of the NBC
(lb/fP) (73.6) (74.9) system. When an SRIM composite 3545%
fiber reinforcement package was recycled, the
recycled SRIM composite yielded properties
In the course of developing a thermoplastic comparable to virgin injection molded impact-
matrix for SRIM, DSM RIM Nylon Inc. devel- modified nylon, indicated in Table 40.16.
oped a family of nylon block copolymers
(NBC) named Nyrim (Reitz, 1992). Nyrim
40.5.4 YIELDS FROM PYROLYSIS
chemistry combines AP-caprolactam with an
activated ’rubbery’ prepolymer. NBC compos- Because pyrolysis occurs in an oxygen-free
ites can be readily recycled by conventional environment, SMC decomposes into three
injection molding techniques without degra- recoverable substances: pyro-gas, pyro-oil and

Table 40.11 Mechanical properties of recycled 30% glass reinforced polypropylene

~~~ ~

Sample Tensile Elongation Flexural lzod Impact

Stress, Modulus, (”) Stress, Modulus, Notched, Unnotched, Glass
MPa MPa MPa MPa J h I/m length,
(psi) (psi x IO6) (psi) (psi x IO6) (ftlb/in) (ft W i n ) (mm)
Control 80.0 6 688 2.19 126.6 7 562 103 421 361
(11600) (0.97) (18 355) (1.10) (1.93) (7.90)
Recycled 69.6 6 329 2.28 106.4 6 749 80 321 329
IX (10 090) (0.92) (15 430) (0.98) (1.49) (6.01)
Recycled 63.5 6 026 2.29 100.0 6 306 74 292 305
2x (9210) (0.87) (14 500) (0.91) (1.38) (5.47)
Recycled 55.9 5 461 2.47 89.8 5 557 64 253 280
3x (8 105) (0.79) (13 020) (0.81) (1.20) (4.73)
Recycled 52.0 5 261 2.50 86.1 5 288 60 241 271
4x (7 540) (0.76) (12 485) (0.77) (1.12) (4.51)
896 Reuse and disposal

Table 40.12 Propertics of polybond modified 30% recyclcd glass reinforced polypropylene

Sample Tensile Elongation Flexural lzod impact

Stress, Modulus, '%) Stress, Modulus, Notched, Unnotched,
MPa MPa MPa MPa J h J h
(psi) (psi x IO6) (psi) (psi x 109 (ftIb/in) cft lb/in)
Control 76.5 6 405 2.31 121.7 7 239 101 400
(11090) (0.93) (17 650) (1.06) (1.89) (7.49)
Recycled l x 62.5 5 798 2.45 97.6 4 888 73 314
(9 062) (0.84) (14 150) (0.71) (1.36) (5.88)
+ 5% Polybond 73.1 6 143 3.64 116.1 5 681 112 595
(10 660) (0.89) (16 830) (0.82) (2.10) (11.14)
+ 10% Polybond 75.8 6 260 3.69 120.9 5 632 121 638
(11000) (0.91) (17 530) (0.81) (2.26) (11.94)
+ 15% Polybond 77.2 6 316 3.45 124.2 5 729 126 679
(11200) (0.92) (18 000) (0.83) (2.36) (12.72)

Table 40.13 Properties of increased glass content recycled reinforced polypropylene

Sample Tensile Elongation Flexural lzod impact

(%)
Stress, Modulus, Stress, Modulus, Notched, Unnotched,
MPa MPa MPa MPa I/m I h
(psi) (psi x 104, (psi) (psi x IO6) cft lb/in) cft lb/in)
Control 76.5 6 405 2.31 121.7 7239 101 400
(30% glass) (11090) (0.93) (17 645) (1.05) (1.89) (7.49)
Recycled l x 62.5 5 798 2.45 97.6 4 888 73 314
(30% glass) (9 062) (0.84) (14 150) (0.71) (1.36) (5.88)
+ 2.5% glass 67.2 6 260 2.36 101.5 5460 81 317
(9 744) (0.91) (14 715) (0.79) (1.52) (5.94)
+ 5.0% glass 70.3 6 964 2.13 108.8 6101 82 302
(10 200) (1.01) (15 775) (0.88) (1.52) (5.66)
+ 7.5% glass 73.8 7377 2.08 112.2 6722 85 305
(10 701) (1.07) (16 270) (0.97) (1.59) (5.71)
+ 100% glass 75.8 8 067 1.87 117.4 8 169 83 281
(11000) (1.17) (17 020) (1.18) (1.55) (5.26)

solid by-product (essentially glass fiber and
filler). In one test by the SMC Automotive
Alliance, the resulting composition was gas
14%, oil, 14% and inert solid 72%. The gas gen-
erated was sufficientto fuel the pyrolysis unit,
making it self-sustaining. The energy content
was close to natural gas. The solid by-products
can be processed into fillers for SMC, BMC or
thermoplastics. When milled into a filler, the
pyrolyzed SMC can be recycled successfully
into general purpose and Class A automotive
SMC, at up to 30% of the calcium carbonate
filler loading with no adverse effects on pro-
cessing or physical properties (Rusch, 1993).
The pyrolysis experiments performed by
Michimae in Japan on scrapped RP ship mate-
rial gave the yields in Table 40.17. The pyro-oil
which was recovered had a strong acid content
 Properties and products of recycled materials 897

Table 40.14 Propertics of polypropylene containing granulated SMC

Sample Tensile Elongation Flexural Izod impacf

SMC Stress, Modulus, (") Stress, Modulus, Notched, Unnofched, HD-
(%) MPa MPa MPa MPa TUL
(psi) (psi x IO6) (psi) l/m 'Im
(psi x IO6) Cft lb/in) cft lb/in) "CPF)
Polypro- 0 22.13 1035 29.17 965 77.9 968.5 63.3
pylene (3210) (0.15) 9.72 (4230) (0.14) (0.14) (18.14) (146)
Polypro 15 21.56 1724 33.51 1310 84.4 236.5 67.2
pylene + (3 120) (0.25) 3.50 (4 860) (0.19) (1.58) (4.43) (153)
coarse
recycled 30 21.03 2 207 34.83 1655 89.2 155.4 78.3
SMC (3050) (0.32) 2.34 (5 050) (0.24) (1.67) (2.91) (173)
50 22.43 3 034 36.21 2276 101.4 148.4 94.4
(3250) (0.44) 1.61 (5250) (0.33) (1.90) (2.78) (202)
Polypro- 15 20.55 1448 32.41 1310 74.2 205.0 51.9
pylene + (2980) (0.21) 4.78 (4 700) 0.19 1.39 (3.84) (151)
fine recycled
SMC 30 20.96 2 069 33.93 1.655 82.2 163.9 84.4
(3 040) (0.30) 2.47 (4 920) (0.24) (1.54) (3 07) (184)
50 17.17 2 828 3.076 2483 73.14 104.1 82.7
(2 490) (0.41) 1.25 (4460) (0.36) (1.37) (1.95) (181)
Polypro- 0 37.93 2 000 50.69 1448 150.6 361.4 114.9
pylene + (5500) (0.29) 3.45 (7350) (0.21) (2.82) (6.77) (239)
9% chopped glass

Table 40.15 Properties of recycled neat NBC RIM Table 40.16 Properties of recycled NBC SRIM part

Property Virgin Recycled Tensile modulus, MPa 10 400

(psi x lo6) (1.51)
Tensile modulus, MPa 2 445 2 480
(psi x lo6) (0.35) (0.36) Tensile strength, MPa 120
(psi) (17 400)
Tensile stress, MPa 58 60
(psi) (8 410) (8 700) Elongation, YO 3
Elongation, YO 40 125 Flexural modulus, MPa 8 000
(psi x lo6) (1.24)
Flexural modulus, MPa 2 485 2 450
(psi x lo6) (0.36) (0.35) Notched Izod, kJ/m2 10
(ft lb/in) (1.9)
Izod, kJ/mZ 10 10
(ft lb/in) (1.9) (1.9) Values are dry, as molded

Mold shrinkage, YO 2 1.2 with a viscosity which resembled heavy

Melting point, "C 214 220 naptha, a flash point close to that of gasoline
("F) (417) (428) and was highly flammable.
The Government Industrial Research
Density, g/m3 1.10 1.14
(lb/fP) (68.7) (71.2) Institute and Shikoku/MITI conducted a pyrol-
ysis experiment using steam in a gas-heated
Water absorption, YO 3.1 3.1 continuous-batch method, with temperatures
898 Reuse and disposal

of typically 500°C (932°F). RP from ships con- 40.5.5 HEAT CLEANED REINFORCEMENTS
taining 40% fiberglass was used. The system Peninsula Copper Industries (PCI) has
produces hardly any smoke or gas. The resin obtained data on their heat-cleaned glass fiber
yields pyro-oil and fiberglass can be recovered incorporated into polyester, polypropylene
without loss of strength. Table 40.18 shows the and nylon matrix laminates (Hanson, 1991).
yield (Kitamura, 1993). The performance of recovered glass fiber rein-
forcement is comparable to virgin glass in
many respects in polyester and nylon. Table
Table 40.17 Yield from pyrolysis - SRI/Michmae 40.19 compares PCI recovered fiber with PPG
fiber with a polyester resin. Table 40.20 pre-
Materials Yield wt.%
sents polypropylene data, comparing the base
Gas (liters) 90.7 resin properties to those using 22 wt YO bare
Pyro-oil (g) 344 34.4 reclaimed glass and two formulations of 22 wt
Remainder (8) 524 52.4 % silane-treated glass. The difference between
Note: per 1000 g of RP Formula A and Formula B is not explained, but

Table 40.18 Yield from pyrolysis - GIRIS/MITI Table 40.19 Average mechanical properties of poly-
ester /PCI-Glass composites and PPG composite.
Materials wt.%
Property PCI PPG
Cas (CO) 18
Pyro-oil: Tensile strength, MPa 25.0 24.9
Styrene monomer 25 (psi) (3 626) (3 600)
Solids (phthalic) 11 Compressive 89.7 n/a
Remainder: strength, MPa (psi) (13 000) n/a
Fiberglass 40 Flexural strength, MPa 81.4 84.5
Carbon 6 (psi) (11 800) (12 300)
Note: per 1000 g of RP
Flber length, cm 10.2 6.4
(in) (0.4) (0.25)

Table 40.20 Average mechanical properties of polypropylene/PCI-

glass composites

Property Filled, Filled,

Unfilled PP untreated treated A/B
Tensile strength, MPa 24.70 26.68 27.20/31.67
(psi) (3 582) (3 869) (3 945/4 593)
Tensile modulus, MPa 873 2 120 2 540/1370
(psi x lo6) (0.127) 0.308) (0.369/0.199)
Yield stress at break, MPa 25 20.1 17.9/28.4
(psi) (3 630) (2 910) (2 602/4 121)
Strain at break 556 391 313/16.7
(YO,at 50 mm/min)
Glass content 0.0 22.0 22.0
(volume YO)
 Disposal of nonrecyclables 899

Table 40.21 Average mechanical properties of adding to landfill. Incineration leaves a

nylon 6/6 PCI-glass composites residue which normally is deposited in a land-
fill, but increasing legislature action as well as
Property WPCI public opinion is reducing the use of landfills.
glass fiber
The energy content in SMC can be recovered
Tensile strength, MPa 102.8 by incineration, but the relatively low energy
(psi) (14 905) content together with the high amount of ash
Flexural strength, MPa 184.2 residue from the incineration makes incinera-
(Psi) (26 690) tion of SMC quite unprofitable. The ash
Flexural modulus, MPa 5292 residues from incineration are not useful as
(psi x lo6) (0.77) fillers in new SMC since the high temperatures
when incinerating, together with the presence
b o d impact strength
of oxygen, converts the calcium carbonate to
(notched 1/8 in), kJ/m 0.04
calcium oxide and that will adversely influence
(ft lb/in) (0.8)
(unnotched), kJ/ m 0.36 the maturation process (chemically thickening)
(ft Ib/in) (6.7) when making new SMC. There are no disad-
vantages, however, either in the form of added
Elongation, YO 3.0
pollution or toxic emissions.
Mold shrinkage, (in/in, Yo) 0.006, 0.6% The important aspect that SMC consists of
Glass content (vol Yo) 14.8 only 20-30% organic materials makes inciner-
ation and chemical degradation less suitable
compared to particle recycling (regrinding)
both show improvement over the base resin and pyrolysis which are using the inorganic
and the bare reclaimed glass. The values over- part of the material as well.
all fall far short of most of the commercially The non-metal mixture that remains,
available glass filled PP, where tensile known as ’fluff’, after such items as automo-
strengths range from 29 MPa (4200 psi) to 82.5 biles and white goods (refrigerators, washing
MPa (12 000 psi) with a mean value of 44.7 machines, etc.) are processed in shredders, is
MPa (6500 psi.). normally disposed of in landfills. Seventy-five
The performance of reclaimed silane-treated percent of shredder plant feed is from cars.
glass fibers in nylon is closer to that obtained This feed mixture has a composition of
for commercial compounds than for approximately 15-25% plastics, 25-75% inerts
polypropylene. Properties obtained using PCI and 2-35% moisture.
glass are given in Table 40.21. Depending on Research by General Motors, Ford and
the resin formulation, manufacturer’s data Chrysler and the American Plastics Council is
show tensile strengths for virgin glass rein- being conducted on recovery, recycling and
forced nylon range between 75 MPa reuse of plastics from scrapped cars and
(11000 psi) and 151.8 MPa (22 000 psi). trucks. Although plastics residue from recy-
Flexural properties show a similar relationship. cling vehicles represents less than 1%of the
solid waste sent to landfills in the USA each
year, auto industry officialsestimate that it still
40.6 DISPOSAL OF NONRECYCLABLES
accounts for more than 1 million tons of the
nation’s solid landfill waste annually.
40.6.1 INCINERATION AND LANDFILL
Research efforts are focused on materials that
The more desirable forms of disposing of com- currently are not recovered, primarily plastics,
posites are described in the previous section, glass, fluids, sealers, fabric, adhesives, paint,
both for economic payback and avoiding and rubber (fluff). Fluff accounts for less than
900 Reuse and disposal
2 wt YO of municipal solid waste. The joint
effort targets the plastics portion of the fluff.
The recovery of plastics from shredder residue
is hampered by frequent contamination from
paint, other plastics, metals, and adhesives.
Thus another goal of the effort is to develop
better methods to purify scrapped plastics.
The Department of Energy’s Argonne
National Laboratory has developed a process
to separate plastics and other recyclable mate-
rials from the ’fluff’ of shredded automobiles.
The process utilizes a fluidized bed process
and yields PUR, fines, iron oxide and mixed
plastics.
Germany appears to be moving away from
its rules forbidding incineration of many kinds
of waste. The Environment Ministry report-
edly will introduce legislation that would
allow incineration of composites and certain
plastics if recycling proves too expensive
(Protzman, 1993).
40.7 DESIGN FOR REUSE
40.7.1 AUTOMOBILES
An obvious approach to assist in the economic
success of recycling of multi-material parts is to
design the item originally for ease of disassem-
bly. Of particular interest are automobiles and
white goods (e.g. refrigerators). The major auto
makers of the US Council for Automotive
Research (USCAR), through their Vehicle
Recycling Partnership, are studying ways to
enhance compatibility and dismantling of plas-
tic parts (Wigotsky, 1993). Some bumper parts
now need only four bolts instead of twelve.
Potential amendments to the US Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, passed in
1976, may specifically name automobile solid
waste. Federal regulations could possibly
require certain car design features, if only by
excluding certain materials. The VRP is work-
ing to establish a strong infrastructure for
recycling plastic parts, starting with things
that are easy to get at, such as fender liners, fan
shrouds and radiator supports. A well-estab-
lished infrastructure for recycling could head
off severe government restrictions on plastics
use.
As with durables in general, aids for recy-
cling vehicles include design for easy
separation and collection, parts consolidation
to simplify separation, material identification
on parts, restriction of plastic parts to recy-
clable resins, and avoidance of paints, coatings
and heat sensitive additives. Automakers
worldwide have agreed on an identification
code for all plastic parts heavier than
100 g (3.5 oz). Ford Motor Company has
issued guidelines on design for for recyclabil-
ity (Miller, 1993)
Germany has been a leader in design for
reuse. Porsche, on assignment from the
Automotive Engineering Research
Association, investigated designs for medium-
priced autos in which plastic parts could be
readily dismantled and recycled. The best
designs for meeting these objectives were
those in which combinations of easily disman-
tled parts were manufactured from a single
recyclable resin. An example of such a combi-
nation is a PP bumper system with a PP
sheath, an expanded PP core and glass-mat-
reinforced PP beam (Nir, Miltz and Ram,
1993).Many reclamation projects focus on the
bumper system. Bumpers are collected in pilot
programs, ground into particles and blended
with virgin resins. Use of a single recyclable
resin has been practiced by Peugeot, Ope1 (sin-
gle resin bumpers) and BMW (body panels).
The use of one resin in different forms, as
described above, is also under development
by Reko and DSM in auto dashboards.
In Landshut, Germany, BMW has a facility
capable of dismantling 25 cars a day. Eighty
percent of the parts in the BMWs low end ‘3
series’ can be reutilized in some form. Plastic
bumpers are turned into interior wall panels.
Seat covers and PU foam are used as sound-
deadening material for the floor in the ’3
series’. BMW also has three dismantling plants
in the USA (New York City, Los Angeles and
Orlando) (Protzman, 1993).
 Applications and markets 901

40.7.2 APPLIANCES roof-rack module which uses recycled filler.

Design for recyclability, of appliances and Introduced in 1992, the rack may have been
other white goods, is underway at several the first use of recycled filler in new SMC.
companies. Such designs allow for easy disas- Germany’s ERCOM and the SMCAA have
sembly, e.g. snap fit assembly with no signed an agreement to ’enhance the use of
fasteners, with each part preferably manufac- SMC/BMC in automotive parts by providing
tured from a single, readily recycled resin and an organization in each country that will
labeled as to its composition. Polymer accept scrap parts for recycling’. SMC is well
Solutions, a joint venture of GE Plastics and ahead of thermoplastics in automotive recy-
Richardson Smith, has already designed an cling use for major parts. This is because SMC
easy-to-disassemble refrigerator and a circuit fillers appear to be continually reusable with-
breaker box (Nir, Miltz and Ram, 1993). out sacrificing physical properties; replacing
half the CaCO, with SMC filler reduces
part weight and cuts compound cost.
40.8 APPLICATIONS AND MARKETS
Thermoplastics have limitations on the
amounts or frequency of reprocessing permit-
40.8.1 AUTOMOTIVE
ted before significant mechanical property
degradation occurs. There is also concern
The automotive industry is evaluating many with possible mixing of incompatible resins.
applications of recycled composite materials, Plastic material suppliers are working to pro-
particularly SMC, in new auto parts. The tech- duce resins with recycled plastic content
nology to recycle SMC, as discussed earlier, is (Miller, 1993).
available and apparently viable. The major There has, however, been reported one
barrier to recycle SMC is the lack of an infra- successful application of a recycled thermo-
structure, i.e. collection, processing, and plastic composite. Chrysler will feature
distribution, but this network will develop recyclable fenders for all of its 1993 LH pas-
because of environmental pressures, etc. senger cars. The fenders are made of
The first production application of recy- DuPont’s Bexloy K, a new glass-reinforced
cled SMC filler in the USA was by General PET polyester based composite. They can
Motors on the 1993 Corvette, an inner panel either be reground and molded again or
for the rear panel assembly (Rusch, 1993).The returned to the two pure feedstock ingredi-
part does not require a Class A surface. ents through a patented DuPont
Corvette anticipates expansion of recycled methanolysis process (American Plastics
SMC to eight more underskin panels in ensu- Council, 1993).
ing models. General Motors spokesmen predict that
In other applications, the SMC Automotive within five years there will be the necessary
Alliance (SMCAA) reported Ford Motor Co. infrastructure for recycling such parts as
expected to start using SMC with recycled fender liners, HVAC ducts, fan shrouds, radia-
composite filler on the Econoline Van interior tor supports and many interior components
engine cover during the 1993 model year, and (Wigotsky, 1993).
Chrysler will use recycled SMC on interior
trim on the RAM Van, the first parts that are
40.8.2 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
visible. And in Europe, the SMCAA listed
three production auto parts that contain recy- A Canadian company has developed a prod-
cled SMC as filler (Audi spare-tire well, VW uct Stratum (Stratum@ is a registered
Polo engine module and VW Passat front-end trademark for the recycled materials produced
panel). Japan’s Toyota Carib has an interior by Plastiglas Industries) composed of a plastic
902 Reuse and disposal
binder, usually polyester, filled with up to 85%
by volume of recycled composite scrap
(Darrah, 1993). One application encapsulates
the scrap-resin mixture between two FRP
skins. The resulting panel has passed the full
scale fire test for exterior panel systems.
Work in Japan has been done to develop a
gypsum filled with milled composite ther-
moset scrap and a mortar with milled
composite scrap, both with mechanical prop-
erties suitable for construction (Kitamura,
1993).
40.8.3 ELECTRICAL PARTS
In Germany, two parts made with new SMC
formulations containing 10-15% by weight
fiber rich recyclate are already in production
or approved for production. These are an elec-
trical distribution cabinet and a cable
distribution base (Schaefer and Plowgian,
1993). Strength and modulus can be main-
tained with a reduction in density.
40.8.4 OTHER APPLICATIONS
Peninsula Copper Industries has identified an
application for small chips of printed circuit
board in an epoxy/coal tar base (Hanson,
1991). This composite is used as a cushion
material between rails and the steel approach
plates at railroad crossings. Initial tests indi-
cate that this composite is an effective
replacement for rubber-based materials
presently used. Several parts from SMC, made
from recycled SMC, have gone into production
or are approved for production in Germany.
These include sinks, seats and chairs.
In the thermoplastic field, a commercial
application for ‘Nyrim’ nylon block copoly-
mer-based SRIM is a manhole cover (Reitz,
1992). It utilizes a 3.545% fiber reinforcement
package. The recycled SRIM composite
yielded properties comparable to virgin injec-
tion molded impact-modified nylon.
40.9 LEGAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ASPECTS
The major federal waste legislation in the USA
addressing solid waste issues is the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. It
requires the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to set guidelines for government pro-
curement of recycled products and it
mandates Federal agencies and contractors to
implement affirmative procurement programs.
Most states and many local governments have
established programs to procure recycled
materials. The 1976 Act was reauthorised in
1988 and continues in effect (Donnelly, 1993).
An industry concern is that the federal reg-
ulations might venture into the areas of car
design, if only by excluding, within certain
time periods, certain materials and design
approaches.
In the meantime, Senator Baucus (D-MT),
Chairman of the Senate Environment-Public
Works Committee, unveiled in April, 1993, a
four-part blueprint for recycling to be part of a
recycling bill to be introduced later. Two parts
concern composites: the Federal Government
should take the lead in procuring goods made
from recycled materials and second, manufac-
turers should be responsible for their products
when they become waste.
In Germany, increasing concern for the
environment has led to proposed laws for the
reuse of post consumer and post industrial
waste. Legislation for recycling of consumer
goods packaging was enacted in 1992, setting
minimums for collection and recycling
through 1995. Now proposed is the German
Refuse Act for Car Recycling, with its priority
for material recycling (Schaefer and Plowgian,
1993).
Other proposed legislation would levy a tax
on new cars to pay for their eventual
disposal. Another proposal by Germany’s
Environmental Minister would make automo-
bile manufacturers responsible for the final
disposal of their cars. Still another stipulated
that by 1993, plastics in new cars produced in
 Organizations active in composites recycling 903

Germany would be required to contain 25% by and construction/furniture.

weight recycled materials. Legislators and The SMC Automotive Alliance, Southfield,
industry will be following Germany’s new MI, is an activity of the SPI’s Composites
environmental laws, expecting to learn from Institute, composed of 35 SMC plastics mater-
that country’s experience, especially since the ial molders and SMC raw material suppliers.
current Democratic administration has One of their objectives is to prove that pyroly-
expressed interest in a progressive environmen- sis and grinding are viable methods of
tal policy, i.e. one of reduce, reuse and recycle.recycling automotive components made of
Two new laws have been enacted in Japan SMC.
in 1991; one is ’Law Concerning the Utilization The Center of Excellence for Composites
of Recycled Resources’ and the second Manufacturing Technology is operated for the
’Amendment of Waste Processing and Navy by the Great Lakes Composites
Cleaning’. Earlier, the National Diet amended Consortium, Kenosha, WI. One of the first pro-
a part of the Marine Safety Act to address the jects undertaken was a prepreg (carbon/
problem of treatment for scrapped ships. epoxy) scrap reclamation project.
Research and development on dismantling, The Big Three Vehicle Recycling Partnership
cutting up, shredding and various recycling of the US Council for Automotive Research has
methods of other large items followed. Such teamed with the Automotive Group of the
items include bathtubs or bath units, tanks American Plastics Council to create an infra-
and automotive parts. These enactments made structure for plastics recycling of scrapped cars
people strongly aware that plastic waste recy- and trucks.
cling had become an important social Suppliers of Advanced Composite Materials
problem. Association (SACMA), Arlington, VA, is a
trade association of composite material suppli-
ers, parts fabricators and organizations that
40.10 ORGANIZATIONS ACTIVE IN
provide ancillary support. Waste management,
COMPOSITES RECYCLING
including recycling composite waste, is one of
The American Plastics Council, Washington, their areas of activity.
DC, is a joint initiative with the Society of the ERCOM Composite Recycling GmbH,
Plastics Industry Inc. (American Plastics Karlsruhe, Germany, is composed of SMC pro-
Council, 1993). It was earlier known as the ducers and processors, resin suppliers and
Council for Solid Waste Solutions. The Council glass fiber producers. It was founded to
mission is to develop and implement a pro- develop and prove the recyclability of SMC in
gram for the responsible use, recovery order to maintain SMC market share in light of
(including recycling and energy recovery) and the strict German attitude towards waste man-
conservation of plastics. The Council is com- agement.
posed of 25 of the leading plastic resin Reinforced Plastic Waste Recycling and
producers, downstream customers and repre- Treatment Council, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo, Japan, a
sentatives of the plastics processor committee of the Japanese Reinforced Plastics
community. One of its four task forces is Society was organized to seek technical and
Product Stewardship, devoted to advancing social solutions in disposal and reuse of large
all options of integrated waste management. composite items such as ships, tanks and bath
This task force, under the Durables Program, units.
has identified four program groups to receive The Swedish Institute of Composites, Pitea,
recycling (life-cycle management) attention. Sweden, is doing experimental work to show
They are automotive, major appliance, com- that reground SMC can be incorporated into
puter and business equipment, and building new SMC and BMC products.
904 Reuse and disposal
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to acknowledge Mrs Peggy
Renkel for her word processing expertise,
helpful suggestions, diligence and patience in
chapter preparation and Dr David Graham for
his careful review of the text.
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