Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste - Oakdene Hollins

© Oakdene Hollins Ltd, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd
Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd September 2006
was started in 2000 and recently extended its premises to 10,000 square feet
and continues to grow and develop. With facilities for Light Resin Transfer
Moulding (Light RTM) and CNC machining the company are equipped to
take projects from conceptual design, through pattern and mould making to
component manufacture. Typical applications for low‐modulus composites
include:
• Telephone hoods, kiosks and shelf mouldings
• GRP covers & guards
• Composite housings, e.g. for telephone exchange, general storage and
lock boxes.
We developed initial concept samples using nonwoven technology to
produce pre‐form textile reinforcements for a range of thermoset resins
such as polyester and epoxy. These pre‐form architectures were then
impregnated with epoxy resin and bioresin (from rapeseed oil) to produce
comparatively low‐modulus composites structures. It was decided to use
this approach when designing structures for low modulus applications.
12.2.2 Experimental Work
Developing the concept from the original sample, the general requirements
for a substrate for reinforcing a LRTM composite panel were described as:
• Lightweight
• Must provide stiffness to the final part
• Must allow resin to flow through the sample whist being compressed
under a vacuum
• Must have a degree of conformability.
Based on these criteria a nonwoven architecture with a proportion of fibres
periodically oriented in the Z‐direction (through the fabric plane linking the
top face to the bottom face) was produced. This fabric resisted total
compression of the structure under vacuum. The most appropriate
nonwovens technology was dry‐laid needle‐punching. It was decided that
the fibre selection, based on the criteria above, must include a proportion of
glass as well as recycled textile to provide adequate stiffness properties and
therefore, the fibre blend was as follows:
56.6% Glass fibre
26.7% Recycled Acrylic fibre (Salvation Army Trading Company)
16.7% Bicomponent Polyester/Co‐polyester
The fibres were mechanically blended and carded to produce a coherent
cross‐laid web. The web was subsequently needle‐punched using the
conditions shown in Table 22.
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