Estimated PP Carpet Waste arising
Off cuts, 10,000 t
Post industrial, 5,000 t
Post consumer, 224,000t
Existing End Markets
•Equestrian Surfaces –
additive to sand based
all weather surfacesall weather surfaces
•Fibres for non woven
products
•Energy recovery
Need for high volume, higher value end markets
PP Recovery Trials funded by
Envirolink NorthwestTrial aims:
• To develop a process
for recycling
polypropylene carpetspolypropylene carpets
• To assess commercial
viability of the process
• Laboratory scale trial
followed by commercial
scale up
NIR ID sorting
• Identification of PP
carpets using handheld
NIR machine
Carpets should be:Carpets should be:
• Tufted PP
• Woven carpets - warp
and weft threads can be
of different polymer
type
http://www.fine-flooring.com/TuftedDiagA.gif
Screen to remove dust, fines
• High energy
flip-flop
screen
• 12x12mm • 12x12mm
deck
• Alternative
technique
– dry
cleaning
Results
Extruded pellets of both
post consumer and post
industrial pp carpet
� successfully moulded successfully moulded
into test bars
Trial resultsPhysical
properties
test
Units
Post consumer
sample
Post industrial
carpet
Virgin PP used for injection moulding
MFI (at 230°C, 2.16kg) 52 19.5 12
Tensile strength MPa 23 22 32
10.1 7.3 10Elongation @ Yield % 10.1 7.3 10
Elongation @ Break % 28.9 35.1
Density g/cm3 1.023 1.15 0.905
Ash % 10 15 0
Trial conclusions
• Straight forward processing route:
– Rigorous PP identification and sorting, tufted Carpet works best
– Size reduction
– Screening– Screening
– Extrusion
• Finished PP:
– Good physical properties,
– Suitable for use in medium to low grade applications, Eg injection moulded plant pots
Commercial scale trials
• Successful recovery of industrial PP carpet at
large scale
• Closely matches lab scale results
• Potential feedstock for injection moulding• Potential feedstock for injection moulding
• Further work needed to perfect feed
• Confidence in product to scale up to post
consumer use
Commercial conclusions
• Critical success factor - correct identification of all polymer fibres within the carpet
• Economics of the recycling process • Economics of the recycling process
are promising
• Next step: Commercial scale testing
of post consumer carpets
OUTLETS, OUTLETS, OUTLETS
• CRUK disseminates trial
results to encourage
entrepreneurs to take
up carpet recycling
• Currently 16 Specialist
Recyclers accepting a
range of carpet types
• Important to present
material correctly for
recycling
Collecting Carpet Tiles for reuse
• 4 Reuse companies in
the UK:
– Spruce Carpets, Glasgow
– Cleanstream Carpets,
Cardiff
Establish suitability for reuse
• Contact Reuse company to confirm
quality and volume of material
Uplift
• Uplift early to ensure that material
remains clean and uncontaminated
Cardiff
– Scout Enterprises, Bristol
– Colwyn Furniture Reuse
• Capacity to take large
volume of tiles
Prepare for collection
• Stack tiles on pallets
Secure tiles using shrink wrap
Call reuse organisation to
arrange collection
Collecting Carpets for other outlets
Carpets should be:
• Kept separate from
other waste
• Not heavily • Not heavily
contaminated (paint,
nails)
• Acceptable for handling
�Ensure highest
possible end use
• Carpet Recycling UK running innovative trials to
develop more outlets
• Number of outlets increasing
• Supply chain needs to work together to ensure
Summary
• Supply chain needs to work together to ensure
highest value outlet is achievable
• Local links are best
We invite you to join our effort