April 22nd is Earth Day, an annual effort to raise awareness about the environment and the importance of protecting our natural resources. Across all our branches, Elasto Proxy is committed to reducing waste and promoting environmental sustainability. Many of our customers share this commitment, and we salute them for applying Design for Sustainability (DfS) principles to product development.
Keep reading to learn more and contact Elasto Proxy for sustainable rubber products.
Sustainable Rubber
Rubber, the main material that Elasto Proxy fabricates, poses some recycling challenges that scientists are working hard to address. Most rubbers are thermosets, a type of polymer that becomes permanently set during curing and can’t be reshaped by heating. In other words, once a thermoset is vulcanized, it can’t be remelted and reprocessed like many plastics can.
Traditionally, the rubber industry has reclaimed thermoset materials by grinding them into powders for fillers in sealants or chopping them into chips for downcycled applications like rubber mulch for playgrounds. Mechanical recycling is better than landfilling, but it doesn’t recover the rubber’s original properties, such as elasticity.
Thanks to recent advances, however, there are now non-mechanical approaches to rubber recycling. Methods include chemical recycling (depolymerization), pyrolysis (thermal cracking), solvolysis, and catalytic upcycling. Engineers can also select readily recyclable thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) instead of natural or synthetic rubber.
Chemical Recycling
Rubbers are polymers, materials where smaller, similar molecules are connected chemically. Today, scientists are developing processes to break down polymers into these smaller units. For example, WACKER Chemie operates a chemical recycling plant in Germany that can recover valuable siloxane molecules from post-industrial silicone waste.
This is an exciting development because these smaller molecules can be repolymerized into new, high-quality silicones as part of a closed-loop, circular system. Researchers are also exploring low-energy processes to make depolymerization, which can require considerable amounts of energy, more environmentally sustainable.
Pyrolysis, Solvolysis, and Catalytic Upcycling
Pyrolysis and solvolysis are two different processes with similar-sounding names. Pyrolysis, or thermal cracking, uses high temperatures to break down rubber into valuable smaller molecules and useful byproducts, such as industrial gases. Advances in controlled pyrolysis have reduced the formation of unwanted byproducts and allowed for the greater recovery of valuable chemicals.
Solvolysis is an emerging technology for rubber recycling. By using specialized solvents, liquids that dissolve other substances, researchers have selectively severed rubber’s chemical bonds under milder conditions than pyrolysis requires. Catalytic upcycling, a related technology, uses specialized catalysts, substances that accelerate a chemical reaction without being consumed.
Thermoplastic Elastomers
Newer materials are also supporting greater sustainability. Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are polymers that have both thermoplastic and rubber-like properties. Unlike thermosets, thermoplastics can be shaped by reheating – and without losing their properties. In other words, a thermoplastic can be remelted and reprocessed into other industrial products such as gaskets.
TPE gaskets cost more because thermoplastic elastomers are more expensive than thermosets like EPDM rubber. However, TPEs are fully recyclable. They also support color matching and come in just about any color you can imagine, including translucent and metallic colors. In addition, because they weigh less, TPEs also support lightweighting efforts for fuel and energy reduction.
Celebrate Earth Day with Elasto Proxy
Earth Day comes just one a year, but the decisions that we make about which materials to buy and use can have long-term environmental consequences. Elasto Proxy hopes you’ve enjoyed this article and reminds you that we use water jet cutting for fabricating rubber products. This tool-less process recycles used water and uses parts nesting to maximum yields and minimize material waste.
Please let us know how we can assist your company on Earth Day and every day.
