Global warming has increasingly drastic consequences, especially in the Alps but also in the rest of the world. To reduce greenhouse gases, widespread recycling of plastic waste is becoming an essential necessity. This research investigates a possible recycling process for old climbing ropes made out of polyamide 6. Old climbing ropes were collected and processed with a twin screw extruder to fabricate recycled granulate. Investigating different shredding techniques showed that pretreatment with liquid nitrogen or water and liquid nitrogen are proven to be insufficient. A good shredding was achieved using a shredding-granulator. Tensile test specimens had been fabricated out of the recycled granulate using an injection moulding process. The tensile tests showed a sufficient material quality and higher tensile strength than the virgin polyamide 6 used for the comparison. Tensile strength and Young's modulus increased, whereas the elongation at break decreased. A previous cleaning of the old ropes showed slightly better material properties of the recycled granulate.      «

Global warming has increasingly drastic consequences, especially in the Alps but also in the rest of the world. To reduce greenhouse gases, widespread recycling of plastic waste is becoming an essential necessity. This research investigates a possible recycling process for old climbing ropes made out of polyamide 6. Old climbing ropes were collected and processed with a twin screw extruder to fabricate recycled granulate. Investigating different shredding techniques showed that pretreatment with...     »