(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997-05-19)
Zhang, Yi; Muzzy, John D.; Kumar, Satish
Studies have been carried out to convert carpet waste into valued products. Two common processes, injection and compression molding, can be used to recycle carpet waste. Two types of carpet waste have been recycled. One is edge trim carpet waste from manufacturing and the other one is separated polypropylene from post-consumer carpet waste. In injection molding, carpet waste was debulked, ground, dried and molded. In compression molding, the recycled carpet waste was combined with glass mat reinforcement. The compression molding process consists of debulking, stacking with glass mats and consolidation. The mechanical testing results are encouraging. The injection molded samples showed properties acceptable for many applications. The glass mat reinforced carpet waste made by compression molding had properties comparable to commercial virgin thermoplastics reinforced with glass mat.