4 - Production of recycled polypropylene (PP) fibers from industrial plastic waste through melt spinning process

Abstract

Macro plastic fibers are increasingly used in concrete to enhance its postcracking performance and to control shrinkage cracks. Use of recycled plastic macro fibers in concrete has gained attention recently, as it has a potential to save significant amount of plastic waste going into landfill, and it eliminates the need of steel mesh in concrete, thus saving cost and labor time. The main objective of this research is to produce commercial-scale recycled polypropylene (PP) fibers from industrial wastes. Our production process includes melt spinning and hot-drawing processes which increase crystallinity of the PP fibers and improve its mechanical properties such as tensile strength and Young's modulus.