Abstract
After primary uses of the plastic product, most developing countries like Ethiopia are facing a shortage of postconsumer disposal waste sites and it became a very serious problem on environmental pollution due to its nonbiodegradable nature. For this reason, regenerating and using the waste product as resources and reducing environmental pollutions are a great opportunity. This research is aimed at the manufacturing of composite materials from waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles reinforced with glass fibers and filled with waste glass powder for floor tile applications. The tile composites were prepared by the melt-mixing method followed by compression molding. The effect of filler, fiber, and PET matrix loading on the composite was investigated using their tensile, compression, and flexural strength tests. The sample was characterized using a universal testing machine. PerkinElmer FTIR instrument was also used. For this, eleven samples prepared by varying the glass fiber weight % from 0 to 10, PET matrix weight % from 70 to 85, and glass powder filler weight % from 5 to 20. The measurement results of the composite were maximum tensile strength (81.625 MPa) and flexural strength (1067.59 MPa) recorded at 10%weight of glass fiber, 85% weight of PET matrix, and 5%weight of window glass filler. The maximum compressive strength is 1876.14 MPa at 10% weight glass fiber, 70 wt% PET matrix, and 20 wt% window glass filler. Based on this, the tensile strength and flexural strength increased with increased weight % of glass fiber and decreased with increased window glass filler. The FTIR spectrum shows some of the groups that have been removed from the recycled PET; this explains the brittleness of the recycled PET as compared to the waste bottle PET. The microstructure was uniformly distributed, and the material became opaque, probably because the decrease in chain length improves chain packing, increasing the crystallinity degree and crystal size.
Highlights
Most developing countries facing a shortage of postconsumer disposal waste sites, and it becomes a very serious problem for environmental pollution
The following raw materials were used: glass fiber (GF) is used as reinforcement, waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottle is used as a matrix, waste glasses are used as a filler, stove and casserole are used to melt the shredded PET plastic, soap and water are to clean the impurities, sheet metal is used to make the mold, weight balance, jaw crusher, disk miller, sieve analysizer, and basin of water are used to wash the PET bottle and glass wastes
Some of the groups have been removed from the recycled PET; this explains the brittleness of the recycled PET as compared to the waste bottle PET
Summary
Most developing countries facing a shortage of postconsumer disposal waste sites, and it becomes a very serious problem for environmental pollution. For this reason, regenerating and using waste products as resources and prevent environmental pollutions is a greater concern. Different researchers, considering the postconsumer waste glass and waste plastics, there is an effort to recover and use waste glass and waste plastics to avoid pollution otherwise it ends up at a disposal landfill. Only a limited amount from the waste glass and plastic collected can be used towards the production of new glass and plastic [1]. Wastes are unwanted or discarded materials after primary uses such as plastics and glasses. A recycling process is tailored to a specific material for optimal purification and decontamination to obtain high-grade recyclable material [6]
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