Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPEDurable roofing materials based on recycling plastics
Long-term applications of roofing membranes have special requirements – can these also be realized with recycled plastics? Are fleeces and membranes made of recycled materials equivalent to products made of virgin plastics? Fraunhofer CCPE addresses these questions in a new research project.
Textile structures are long-established solutions for roof coverings, e.g. as roof underlays and sarking membranes. They are used as (covering) fleeces, usually in combination with monolithic or microporous membranes. They are also used in ventilated roofs, which are permeable to water vapor and are referred to as ventilated roofs or rear-ventilated roof constructions, as a ventilation level between the thermal insulation and the roof cladding. They are also used in warm roofs, which are not ventilated and are permeable to water vapor and without ventilation between the roof substructure and roof cladding. They are therefore an integral part of any modern roof construction.
Today's products are mainly made of plastics of fossil origin, and many manufacturers are faced with the challenge of making these products more sustainable. The use of recycled plastics is an obvious solution, but there are concerns about comparability with products made from virgin plastics. In particular, the question is raised as to whether fleece can be produced cost-effectively from recycled materials.
The starting point for the entire process, which ranges from the selection and recycling of suitable used plastics to the production of recyclate, is an analysis of the available material flows. This is followed by the production of compounds, including the use of additives, as well as the shaping by spinning and the production of fleece and membrane materials. Finally, a life cycle analysis is carried out. In the laboratories and facilities of the Fraunhofer CCPE, not only is the value creation represented along all the industrial process steps involved, but the economic viability of the research for industrial partners along the entire plastics value chain is also examined. So far, the work has focused in particular on roofing membranes for pitched roofs, where polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is mostly used for fleeces and polypropylene (PP) for fleeces and membranes.
Have we caught your interest? Then we look forward to getting in touch with you and transferring the results from the laboratory environment into practice.