Short- and long-term properties in recyclates
March 21, 2023 – While post-industrial recyclates (PIR) are well defined regarding their composition, the diversity of possible compositions (e.g. polymeric impurities, non-plastic impurities, additives, adhesives) increases exponentially when moving to post-consumer recyclates (PCR). Also, various states of aging need to be considered, as well as fluctuations according to seasonal and geographic origin. Such varying quality of the incoming streams will affect the quality of the resulting products. For example, the properties of the compounds regarding processing behavior and the mechanics of the products generally deteriorate when the fraction of PCR is increased. Also, the durability and as a result, the life expectancy of the products are affected in a negative way. Thus, the state of the material stream and the applied technologies regarding sorting and workup play a key role in the quality of the resulting recyclates. With the project ‘Material and long-term properties in recycled materials’, Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF aims to lay the foundations for increasing the proportion of post-consumer recyclates (PCR) for high-quality industrial applications of engineering plastics. The researchers are looking for additional partners to jointly develop fundamental insights into the effect of material composition. Focus is on the feedstocks and the variables influencing compounding (e. g. proportion and condition of virgin material, re-additivation) on the resulting application properties.
The project ‘Material and long-term properties in recycled materials’ will investigate the long-term aging properties of post-consumer recyclates (PCR) (Foto: Fraunhofer LBF, Raapke)
