Abstract
The storage of post-consumer unsaturated polyester/glass fibre composites impacts negatively on the environment due to its persistence (long lifetime of both the glass fibre and the resin) as well as the high volume/weight ratio of the residues. In this work we introduce a new approach for the recycling process of artefacts made of these polyester/glass fibre composites that involves the dispersion of the ground, not powdered, composite in raw polyester resin. Room temperature resin curing was employed. Flexural and impact tests were performed to optimize the processing conditions and the manufacturing process. Significant improvement in texture, flexural strength and impact resistance of sheets were achieved by pressing and heating the sheets at 40∞C and 50∞C during curing. The artefacts utilized in our work were post-consumer public telephone weather protector caps, which, in Brazil, are manufactured with a composite of unsaturated polyester/glass fibre. Although we used this specific artefact, the methodology can be extended to different types of post-consumer materials or industrial scraps.
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