Plastic waste is shredded and formed to a desired shape and held together using a binder and/or heat, etc. The resulting composite material may be useful for building and/or furniture and/or flooring, etc. (similar to wood composite board). In some embodiments, the board is highly water resistant. Optionally, the board is made of layers. For example, an inner layer has reduced density and/or an outer layer may have decreased particle size and/or increased fiber content.

A method of making a recycled plastic product includes collecting recyclable plastic materials. The recyclable plastic materials are separated into a plurality of single grade batches of recyclable plastic materials. Each single grade batch is ground into a single grade group of recyclable plastic chips. A single grade portion is weighed out from each single grade group of chips. Each single grade portion is equal in weight within a range of plus or minus 15 percent. Each single grade portion is mixed together to form a multiple grade mixture of recyclable plastic chips. The multiple grade mixture is heated to form a multiple grade blend of molten recyclable plastic. The multiple grade blend is cooled into a form of a solid recycled plastic product. The recycled plastic product comprises multiple grades of recyclable plastic and a volume large enough to encompass a 1.0-inch diameter sphere.

Methods of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprise: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) adding one or more color concentrates to the flakes; (E) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder (400) while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion (420) of the MRS extruder (400) below about 25 millibars; (F) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter (450) having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (G) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.

The invention provides a pallet wrap system and manufacture for repair of wood pallets. Extending the service life of wood pallets reduces associated costs, environmental concerns, and workplace injuries. The wrap or wrap component comprises a plurality of portions hingedly attached to one another and configured to surround or cover a portion of a pallet. The wrap component may be manufactured using recycled material, such as paper, aluminum, or plastic, and may further include a chemical for properties such as elasticity, adhesion, and bonding grip. The wrap component may further be folded to such that it can be erected from a flattened state to form a display unit for products. The wrap may include printed information content such as advertising/marketing content, or manufacturer's or shipper's information, identification or logo to make sure that only that business' product is shipped or used with the identified pallet.

In accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, a method producing a composite board comprising plastic and cellulose is described. The method includes transmitting a first signal to a pair of opposing hot-platens, receipt of the first signal causing the pair of opposing hot-platens to compress and heat a composite mat; transmitting a second signal to the pair of opposing hot-platens, receipt of the second signal causing the pair of opposing hot-platens to heat and compress the composite mat at substantially a first pressure for a first time period; transmitting a third signal to the pair of opposing hot-platens, receipt of the third signal causing the pair of opposing hot-platens to release the composite mat from the first pressure; and transmitting a fourth signal to a pair of opposing cold-platens, receipt of the fourth signal causing the pair of opposing cold-platens to compress and cool the composite mat.

A method for manufacturing pellets from polymer, comprising: (1) melting polymer flakes in a first section of a melt processing unit to create a first single stream of polymer melt; (2) separating the first single stream of polymer melt into multiple streams of polymer melt by means of a separation element; (3) passing the multiple streams through a multiple stream section of said melt processing unit and exposing the multiple streams to a pressure within the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit as the multiple streams pass through the multiple stream section; (4) recombining the multiple streams into at least one combined stream of polymer melt; and (5) cooling the polymer melt and forming said pellets from the at least one combined stream. The intrinsic viscosity of the at least one combined stream may be determined and, in response, the chamber pressure within the multiple stream section adjusted.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament from recycled polymer. In various embodiments, the method includes: (1) reducing recycled polymer material into polymer flakes; (2) cleansing the polymer flakes; (3) melting the flakes into a polymer melt; (4) removing water and contaminants from the polymer melt by dividing the polymer melt into a plurality of polymer streams and exposing those streams to pressures below 25 millibars or another predetermined pressure; (5) recombining the streams; and (6) using the resulting purified polymer to produce bulked continuous carpet filament.

A method for the reuse of PEKK-based carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites is provided. Chips obtained by comminuting the carbon fiber-reinforced PEKK composite material are melt mixed with a virgin poly(aryletherketone) polymer to provide carbon fiber-reinforced poly(aryletherketone) compositions. Molded articles having good mechanical properties can be prepared from the carbon fiber-reinforced poly(aryletherketone) compositions.

A process for producing a polymeric article is provided that includes: sequentially filling a female mould (11) with a first, second, and third batches, wherein the first and third batches include first and third polymeric materials (1p, 3p), and the second batch includes a second polymeric material (2p) and a blowing agent (2b), closing the thus filled cavity with a lid (12) to form a mould defining a closed cavity (10c) of constant volume in time, heating the mould (10) to a processing temperature, to melt the first, second, and third polymeric materials (1p-3p) and to expand the second polymer agent by activation of the blowing agent, cooling and removing the lid (12) to open the cavity and extracting the polymeric article. At least the second polymeric material (2p) includes at least 50 wt. % of recycled polymer in the form of shredded flakes.

A method of recycling a large amount of insole scrap stack is proposed. The method includes forming a plate-shaped stack made of flat-plate-shaped foam and woven fabric, separating an insole scrap stack from the plate-shaped stack, and forming a pulverized insole scrap having an average diameter of 0.05 to 0.7 mm by cool-pulverizing or freeze-pulverizing the insole scrap stack at 10° C. or less. The pulverized insole scrap may be used for manufacturing foam.