The Recovery, Reprocessing and Reuse of Waste Glass Fibre Fabrics: 'Closed-Loop Recycling'

摘要

The term "closed-loop recycling" is defined here as the recovery, reprocessing and reuse of waste materials (preforms) by the industrial concern that generates the waste. In other words, the waste material that is generated within the organisation is recovered, reprocessed and re-used to manufacture products of commercial value. The current paper is concerned with the recovery, reprocessing and reuse of waste glass fibre preforms (fabric) that are generated during the primary (weaving) and secondary (coating and trimming) fabric production processes. Traditionally, cardboard tubes are used as the mandrel to over-wrap the woven fabric. Although these cardboard mandrels are relatively cheap compared to polymeric or metallic mandrels they have a lifespan, on average, of three cycles (over-wrapping and transport operations). Typical damage modes that are observed with the cardboard tubes during service are shown in Figs. 1 (a and b); the damaged tubes are generally disposed in landfills or incinerated. Whilst considerable resources continue to be directed to aspects of recycling fibre reinforced composites, comparatively little attention is paid to the recovery and reuse of waste generated in the production of the reinforcing fibres and fabrics. A schematic illustration of typical waste streams for glass fibres and fabrics is presented in Fig. 2; the items numbered 1-7 represent the primary contributors to the waste stream. The sub-categories per waste theme are also listed. A detailed discussion per primary waste stream is outside the scope of the current article. Hence, only the waste stream corresponding to the preforms is discussed here; issues relating to the resin system and productions are discussed in a subsequent section.