A German project team has developed a process to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to make glass fiber reinforced PET.
The new research project, UpcyclePET recovers of PET waste from plastic bottles in industrial applications, reducing the the use of new polyamide-based parts.
The project team consists of the company Easicomp GmbH, the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF, and the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut eV).
‘We would not like to use recycled PET just for plastic bottles, but would also like to use it in the production of durable and long lasting products,’ said Dr Ing Tapio Harmia, CEO of Easicomp.
‘With this upcycling we are creating lightweight components out of fiber-reinforced recycled PET, and are thus reducing the use of glass fiber reinforced polyamides typically applied in the production of automotive parts, e.g. engine mounts or cross members,’ added Dr Volker Strubel, project coordinator.
The process uses pultrusion to reinforce the PET with long glass fibers. According to the project members, this can make use of the mechanical advantages of the very strong long glass fibers with the special properties of PET. There is also reportedly less swelling capacity and improved dimensional stability. All necessary processing steps can be completed in one manufacturing plant.
Environmentally friendly
‘This approach combines two processing steps that are separated in modern practice and customizes the properties of the recycling PET by chemical modifications and suitable addition of additives,’ said Dr Frank Schönberger, department head at Fraunhofer LBF.
‘We are expecting an innovation boost for high quality plastics recycling in Germany from the UpcyclePET project,’ said Dr Andreas Köhler, a researcher at Öko-Institut. ‘Upcyling of PET waste has significant potential as an environmentally friendly solution, since it facilitates the creation of long lasting products, while also serving as a replacement for plastics with much higher greenhouse gas emissions.’
This story uses material from Fraunhofer,with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
