Mechanothermal and chemical recycling methodologies for the Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP)

Materials have become an integral part of our lives owing to their wide usability, but at the same time, they are affecting the nature antithetically. Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) is highly sought materials in an automobile, aerospace, structural, transportation and other industries due to its excellent mechanical performance, durability, and lightweight. Currently, miscellaneous industries manufacture engineered composite products using FRP materials, especially the products of hardbound thermoset resins, which are difficult to reprocess or reuse. Landfills and incineration are the most common technique for discarding the non-degradable FRP waste that has created an inimical impact on the environment and ecosystem. In order to reduce the ecological burden, we need to evaluate economical and feasible FRP recycling techniques. Extensive investigations conducted over the past decades have proven their efficacy in substituting the currently existing recycling processes. This review article enumerates the mechanical, thermal (fluidised bed and pyrolysis), chemical (low temperature and supercritical temperature) recycling methodologies, and their efficiency in degrading copious FRP materials like glass, carbon, natural etc. In addition, the economic and environmental aspects of fibre reinforced plastic materials based on life cycle assessment (LCA) has been discussed. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.