Hi everyone! we have an adhesive product based on butyl rubber, laminated with Al foil. During production, we have some waste. The problem is that butyl adheres strongly to the Al foil and is not easily separated. Any suggestion about how can we recycle them without hurting the polymer compound? every comment is really appreciated.
Thanks
Mahboubeh
Any suggestion for recycling of butyl-polymer laminated aluminum foils?
Butyl-polymer laminated aluminum foils can be difficult to recycle due to the combination of different materials. Some suggestions for recycling these materials include:
Working with the manufacturers to reduce usage of laminated foils and promote the use of more easily recyclable materials may also help address this waste problem in the long run. I hope these suggestions are helpful!
If the waste aluminum foil with adhesive are large sections, or in manageable strips or sheets, consider adhering them onto insulating board such as expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, or polyisocyanurate board to create insulative sheathing for building construction. Something like
https://www.homedepot.com/p/SilveRboard-1-in-x-2-ft-x-48-in-R5-Radiant-Acoustic-Insulation-Kit-STC-19-12-sheets-96-sq-ft-SB12AKIT/205975329
Brian Lee thanks a lot :) I am afraid they are not in large sections,
Marwan Hany
Dear Marwan, thanks for your comment. In fact, we have problems in item 1, as Al foil and butyl compounds do not easily separate. and our intention is to recycle them not bury them in landfills. Could you please tell me more about item 5? any reference, please? :)
Mahboubeh Alipour
Here are some references on emerging technologies for recycling composite materials:
- Solvent-based recycling: Using solvents to dissolve the adhesives and separate the layers. The layers can then be recycled.
- Compatibilization: Adding compatibilizers to improve the recyclability of the multilayer films. The compatibilizers help in overcoming issues like lack of miscibility between layers.
- Depolymerization: Breaking down the long polymer chains into monomers and oligomers using processes like glycolysis, methanolysis, etc. The resulting products can then be used to synthesize new polymers.
Ref: Patil, S. A review on recycling of laminated plastic films and foils: Progress, potential and challenges. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2020, 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104835.
Ref: Gençer, D. Recycling technologies for thermoset composite materials: Current status and future opportunities. Express Polym. Lett. 15, 40–64 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3144/expresspolymlett.2021.4
Ref: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/07/f64/fcto-recycling-composites-model.pdf
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need any other references on this topic.
Marwan Hany Many thanks for your references! but it is weird, when I click on the links, the requested pages could not be found! Anyway, I try to find them by their titles. thanks again :)
Phil Geis Dear Phil, do you mean by thermal recycling, completely burning the polymer component?
If the scraps were chopped into fine pieces, would they be sufficiently buoyant to not sink in road paint or to be used as a drop-on wet paint treatment so that they would provide enhanced reflectivity similar to the glass beads currently used?
https://www.tenroadsglass.com/road-marking-glass-beads/
https://www.tenroadsglass.com/products/bs6088b-reflective-glass-beads-for-traffic-road-marking-paint.html
Phil Geis yes, we are hoping we could re-use the polymer compound again. we even tried to dissolve Al foil in a strongly basic solution! In other words, we sacrificed the metal part! Interestingly, the polymer characteristics remained the same. But we are thinking of a more efficient way, so neither of the components would be hurt.
Phil Geis Thanks for your kind participation in my question, your comments are very helpful :)
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