Advanced and traditional processing of thermoplastic polyurethane waste

Abstract

In this work different ways to valorise discarded ear tags made of TPU from livestock sector were studied. This singular residue does not require separation from other plastics like other industrial and urbane wastes, which could contribute to simplify its management. Firstly, mechanical processing was carried out by several cycles of consecutive extrusion and injection processes. The material obtained in each process was characterized using different physical, chemical and mechanical characterization techniques in order to study the degradation as a consequence of processing cycles. Thereafter, suitable filaments for 3D printing were obtained and the effect of infill pattern in the mechanical properties of the printed pieces was investigated. Besides, an electrospun mat constituted by TPU waste microfibers was successfully obtained by electrospinning, and its morphology together with superficial and mechanical properties were characterized. Results showed that these applications were suitable options to valorise TPU waste consisting of discarded ear tags.