| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/N08599/01 |
| Title: |
RECYCLING OF PAINTED & METALLISED PLASTIC COMPONENTS FOR HIGH VALUE REUSE |
| Principal Investigator: |
Harris, Professor S |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Mech Materials Manuf Eng Mgt |
| Organisation: |
University of Nottingham |
| Scheme: |
LINK |
| Starts: |
01 August 2000 |
Ends: |
31 July 2002 |
Value (£): |
142,957
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| Environment |
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The increasing profile of the polymer recycling industry is being driven largely by legislation, such as the automotive sector with the proposed EC Directive on End of Life Vehicles (ELVs). Although many moulded omponents are marked with information as to their polymer content, the separation of painted or plated surface reatments is a real problem for high value recycling. Existing methods rely on chopping of the.whole material ass followed by re-melting and separation, a complex, energy consuming and ineffective process.In addition to complying with end-of-use goals, many manufacturers, such as those in the metal plated and painted njection moulding sector within this proposal (T&D, Borough), experience a real financial burden from in-house eject components from these processes. Positioned well into the in-house manufacturing cycle, plated and ainted plastic components have a high value-added content when rejected. Despite this it is commonly a lower ost alternative to scrap the parts rather than recycle in-process due to the lack of an effective process. Figures rom ACORD (Automotive Consortium On Recycling and Disposal) show that for ELV's, from 2 million Tonnes of igible scrap, only 1,000 Tonnes of plastic was recovered, mainly from trial projects. Scrap from one automotive rim manufacturer's site alone accounts for over Elm per annum.Recent feasibility work has proved the concept of removing coatings from thermoplastic surfaces by residue-free ryogenic blasting using dry ice, potentially enabling the re-use of primary high added-value scrap without the eed to remelt and remould the entire item. There is a clear opportunity to cryogenically blast the surface only, ithout affecting any substrate surface texture, recover the isolated coating materials, and enable immediate reoating or processing of the pure plastic article. Through application to the surface structure only, the process ould be able to reduce typical reprocessing energy costs by at least 60%.This project will seek to develop a cost effective solution capitalising upon the polymer material, surface chemistry and cryoblasting expertise available within Pera and Nottingham University, to characterise and develop the ryoblasting process to be applicable across a range of materials and surface coatings.Pera Technology will act as the lead organisation for this project, co-ordinating the industrial input and carrying out the development of the automated cryogenic blasting and recovery process. Nottingham University will conduct the research work relating to the reapplication surface requirements and purity and separation of recovered materials. The non-competitive industrial partners offering a range of applied and complementary skills and knowledge in the areas of dry ice, compressed air, cryogenic blasting, automation, surface coatings and materials recovery will support and direct the research and development activities.Development of this process will allow the recovery and re-use of polymer waste streams, both in-process and post-consumer after ELV dismantling, as well as potentially providing a recycling route for separated plating materials, for example re-using chromium in stainless steel manufacture. This will lead to reprocessing cost 3reductions, stimulating take up of the technology to give reduced primary feed material consumption, lower energy costs and a reduction in landfull volume of potentially hazardous combined materials.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk |