Processing of pre-impregnated thermoplastic towpreg reinforced by continuous glass fibre and recycled PET by pultrusion

Packaging sector generates 40% of the plastics consumption in Europe. Among the most consumed plastics, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is still the material that undoubtedly continues to grow in the packaging sector. Hence, there is a concern related to the recycling process, which today is only around 56%. Therefore, the objective of this work focuses on the use of this recycled material as a source of raw material for pultrusion processes. This work studies and compares the processability of final composite pultruded parts by using three different pre-impregnated recycled materials different in their viscosity and stream. Those composites were characterized by mechanical testing and microscopy analysis. The obtained results were compared with those of another pultruded thermoplastic (polypropylene) composite. From this study, it was possible to transform a waste into a product with high added value, reducing the carbon footprint.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (Spain) through the project MAT2017-85101-C2, the Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (project VA071G18 and grant to María Asensio) and Instituto para la Competitividad Empresarial de Castilla y León through the project CCTT2/18/VA/0002. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the funding of Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000022 - SciTech - Science and Technology for Competitive and Sustainable Industries, cofinanced by Programa Operational Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER).