Abstract
Limited petroleum sources, suitable law regulations, and higher awareness within society has caused sustainable development of manufacturing and recycling of polymer blends and composites to be gaining increasing attention. This work aims to report recent advances in the manufacturing of environmentally friendly and low-cost polymer materials based on post-production and post-consumer wastes. Sustainable development of three groups of materials: wood polymer composites, polyurethane foams, and rubber recycling products were comprehensively described. Special attention was focused on examples of industrially applicable technologies developed in Poland over the last five years. Moreover, current trends and limitations in the future “green” development of waste-based polymer materials were also discussed.
Highlights
Polymers have specific properties, such as e.g., high strength, light-weight, toughness, resistance to corrosion, relatively easy processing, and low-cost production, resulting in polymer-based blends and composites to be commonly applied in different branches of industry [1–5].the development of plastics and elastomers technologies is observed each year
According to ASTM D 883 (“Standard Terminology Relating to Plastics”), thermoplastics are defined as polymeric materials “capable of being repeatedly softened by heating and hardened by cooling through a temperature range characteristic of the plastic, and that in the softened state can be shaped by flow into articles by molding or extrusion for example”
One of the most critical problems when forming composites with a matrix of thermoplastic polymers is the incompatibility of the filler and matrix, which is usually due to the difference in physico-chemical properties, as the hydrophilic filler is introduced into the hydrophobic polymer matrix [52]
Summary
Polymers have specific properties, such as e.g., high strength, light-weight, toughness, resistance to corrosion, relatively easy processing, and low-cost production, resulting in polymer-based blends and composites to be commonly applied in different branches of industry [1–5]. Financial data indicate that the global plastic market size in 2020 is worth approximately 579.7 billion US dollars This indicates a value growth of ~15.5% within the last five years. The first step in plastics and rubber recycling is the suitable classification, separation, and washing (when necessary) of waste materials. The second step of waste plastics and rubber recycling is grinding or granulation, which allows for a suitable size reduction that is necessary for further processing (e.g., extrusion, injection molding) [17]. Considering approaches of “Sustainable Plastics Strategy”, the progress in material design, recycling technologies, or alternative feedstock as a function of three groups of materials, wood polymer composites, polyurethane foams, and rubber recycling products, are discussed. This paper is dedicated for students, researchers, and technologists working (or planning to work) on sustainable development of waste-based polymer materials
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