Valorisation of waste pulp from materials recovery facility rejects for composite applications
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Waste pulp was recovered from MRF rejects, purified, processed into paper sheets and laminated with polylactide (PLLA) films. The purification process employed produced waste pulp of different qualities. The mechanical properties of the resulting waste pulp fibre-reinforced laminated PLLA composites was indifferent to the type of waste pulp treatment used. All composites showed significant improvements over neat PLLA, highlighting the viability of using waste pulp as a potentially cheap and sustainable reinforcement for polymers. Lifecycle assessment further showed that the composites possessed lower net global warming potential, as well as the end-point impact categories of human health and ecosystem quality compared to neat PLLA. This is due to the higher mechanical performance of the composites, which leads to higher weight saving of the functional unit. Our work paves the way for the use of pulp rejects from the recycling process for higher value applications, diverting them from landfill or incineration.
Date Issued
2024-05-01
Date Acceptance
2024-02-25
Citation
Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 2024, 180
ISSN
1359-835X
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Volume
180
Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Subjects
A. Biocomposites
A. Cellulose
A. Recycling
B. Mechanical properties
BACTERIAL CELLULOSE NANOPAPER
BEHAVIOR
DEGRADATION
Engineering
Engineering, Manufacturing
ENGLAND
FIBERS
LIGNIN
Materials Science
Materials Science, Composites
PAPER
Science & Technology
STRENGTH
Technology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
108108
Date Publish Online
2024-02-28