Member - iwas-concepts.ch

Duromers such as glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) have excellent properties. They are inexpensive to manufacture, very stable, durable, light and weatherproof. Because of these characteristics, they are used in numerous industries (automotive, wind turbines and boat industry). Due to the excellent properties of glass fiber reinforced plastics, their production has been increasing continuously for several years. In 2019, more than 1.141 million tons of this material were produced across Europe, with an annual growth of 2% forecast for the coming years. At the same time, the amount of GRP components that reach their EOL and have to be disposed of is increasing as well. Already today, more than 200,000 tonnes of GRP waste per year have to be disposed of in Europe, although the quantities will increase significantly in the future. Because this topic was hardly given any importance in the past, there is currently a disposal problem that threatens to worsen. Today GRP waste is either incinerated or disposed of in landfills. Sustainable GRP recycling is therefore urgently needed. To date, however, no recycling method in the sense of circular economy has established itself on the market. That is why iwas-concepts AG, together with partners from research and industry, develops and implements innovative and sustainable solutions for GRP recycling in order to process these high-quality waste products and return them to the material cycle.