PET Bottles: Upcyling Instead of Recycling
A new research project is developing an innovative process for high
quality cycle utilization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The research
project called Upcycle PET, enables the recovery of PET waste from plastic
bottles to be used in high-grade industrial applications, and it targets to
reduce the use of new polyamide-based plastic parts.
Darmstadt/Germany — The project team consists of the company
Easicomp, the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System
Reliability LBF, and the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut e.V.).
Further details on these studies will be presented at the Compounding World
Expo 2018 in Essen, from June 27 to June 28, at booth 707.
According to Dr.-Ing. Tapio Harmia, CEO of Easicomp, explains the
researchers 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. This idea is called upcycling. Dr. Volker Strubel, coordinator of the
project, adds that with this upcycling the team was creating lightweight
components out of fiber-reinforced recycled PET, and were thus reducing the use
of glass fiber reinforced polyamides typically applied in the production of
automotive parts, e.g. engine mounts or cross members.
For the project Upcycle PET the partners are drawing on knowledge
from the material and process development, in order to create an integrated
manufacturing process for the production of fiber-reinforced PET components. A
pultrusion process is used in order to reinforce the PET with long glass fibers
and thus to upgrade PET technically. This kind of approach combines the
mechanical advantages of the very strong long glass fibers with the special
properties of PET. The lower swelling capacity and good dimensional stability
are part of these properties. 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.
The production is cost effective, since all necessary processing
steps are completed in one manufacturing plant. The project team uses a
lightweight component from the automotive industry in order to evaluate the
potential for technical replacement of the materials and demonstrates possible
ecological as well as economic advantages. Dr. Andreas R. Köhler from
Öko-Institut said that he is expecting an innovation boost for high quality
plastics recycling in Germany from the Upcycle PET project. Upcyling of PET
waste had 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, he said.
Background: Recyling of PET
Bottles
The trend of recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from
plastic bottle waste has reached a high level in Germany. Thanks to the deposit
system implemented in Germany, there have been more than 97 % of PET
bottles recycled in 2015. After their lifecycle as drinking water bottle, they
are valuable sources of PET, which is used for production of new PET bottles,
and especially in Asia, it is also processed into textiles. However, this waste
can also be used as a particularly high-quality recycling material in order to
open up possibilities for long lasting technical applications beyond the
packaging and textile industries ("upcycling"). This approach is now
gaining importance, since China released a ban on the import of plastic waste
at the beginning of this year.
Editor: Alexander Stark PROCESS
WORLDWIDE
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