Abstract
The most preferable and cost effective disposal route for glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) waste is through landfill. However, this is not feasible as a long-term solution when taking into account strict regulations on landfill ban and loss of valuable materials. These pressures have driven the need for further study into composite recycling technology. However, environmental impact of end of life options, have yet to be thoroughly addressed. This chapter shows a simplified life cycle assessment method to assess possible recycling options and reuse applications for GFRP body-in-white automotive sheet moulding compound (SMC) structure. The results show that the high voltage fragmentation (HVF) recycling process has greater impact in all categories in comparison with the mechanical recycling method. This is as a result of high electricity energy demand and disposal of organic contaminated waste water in HVF process. The results also revealed that the global warming impact of a recycling process can be successfully reduced if the recyclate is used to replace high embodied energy virgin material. The methodology used in this chapter enables users to make an informed decision with respect to environmental implication of available end of life options for composite products. The methodology could be used for analysing environmental impact of other composite machining processes.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), grant EP/K026348/1, Efficient X-Sector use of HeterogeneoUs MatErials in Manufacturing (EXHUME).
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Shuaib, N.A., Mativenga, P.T., Azmi, A.I., Zain, H. (2021). Environmental Assessment of Composite Recycling for Machining Processes and Industries. In: Hameed Sultan, M.T., Azmi, A.I., Majid, M.S.A., Jamir, M.R.M., Saba, N. (eds) Machining and Machinability of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites. Composites Science and Technology . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4153-1_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4153-1_12
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