A Reinforced Plastic Construction Material Made Entirely from Recycled Wastes

Foster-Miller proposes to utilize commingled plastics from the municipal waste stream as matrices in reinforced construction materials. The reinforcement will consist of scrap "prepreg" such as graphite/epoxy from the industrial waste stream. By utilizing entirely recycled feedstock (both matrix and reinforcement), Foster-Miller's construction material will be both cost-effective and at the same time will address one of the major problems confronting the United States today -- lack of land fill space. Since carbon fiber is the reinforcement of choice (modulus of 200 GPa and strength of 2700 MPa), Foster-Miller's innovative recycled construction material should also overcome the mechanical property limitations of current reinforced recycled plastics. With proper interfacial control between the reinforcement and the plastic matrix, our construction material should have mechanical properties competitive with wood. A tensile strength of 75 MPa and modulus of 15 GPa are expected. This modulus is 50 to 100 percent higher than hardwood while the strengths would be comparable to fully dried hardwoods. Foster-Miller is working with a composites user who is developing alternative high value uses for scrap prepreg in order to eliminate disposal problems. By consulting with a leading researcher in the field of recycled plastics during Phase I, they will be able to maximize the pace of technical development during Phase I. To show feasibility they will compare the properties of the material to wood and demonstrate the effectiveness of the binder we choose. Practical extrusion processing conditions will also be chosen during Phase I to enable them to move quickly to full-scale development in Phase II and III.