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End of Life Options for Composite Waste - NCN Best Practice Guide
Whilst by no means a new concept, recycling has over the past couple of decades become part of everyday life. It is now common practice to recycle or reuse newspapers, glass, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and clothes. The concept of recycling polymer based products gained momentum towards the end of the 1970’s fueled by the oil crises in 1974 and 1978-9, which resulted in significant increase in raw material costs. Recycling of polymer composites is an even more recent occurrence with significant work generally not starting until the latter half of the 1980’s. However, with the increase in use of composite products, particularly in the automotive industry which consumes up to a quarter of all composites manufactured, the issue of composite recycling is becoming ever more important. Successful composite recycling requires incentives, infrastructure, recycling techniques and market commitment.
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