Novel Recycling to Transform Automotive Waste Glass and Plastics into SiC-Bearing Resource by Silica Reduction

Abstract

A significant amount of end-of-life plastics and glass are currently landfilled, incinerated, or just illegally dumped even though conventional plastic and glass recycling practices are well established. This paper describes a novel approach to synthesize silicon carbide (SiC)-bearing product by utilizing waste automotive glass and plastic. The reduction of silica in glass by blend of graphite and plastic (Bakelite) to produce SiC was established experimentally under inert condition at a temperature 1,550 °C. The results from X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy EDS confirm the formation of SiC, and the reaction kinetics and the mechanism of reduction were investigated by means of infrared gas analyzer. Rate constant, k = 12.8 × 10−4 s−1, for the initial stage was measured for overall silica reduction, and the mechanism was established to be predominantly controlled by chemical reactions. This process innovation has two significant advantages: it is a major step toward transforming nonmetallic automotive waste into valuable resources like SiC-containing refractory materials, and it reduces the industry’s reliance on conventional raw materials including quartz and coke which are typically used as silicon and carbon bearing resources.