Layered composites are materials that are widely used in industry due to their low manufacturing costs. They are used, among others, as a construction material for the construction of light aircraft, cars, wind turbine blades and the hulls of vessels. The universality of their use has contributed to the formation of a large amount of post-production and post-use waste from these composites. Layered composites, using recycled polyester and glass, or recycled composite waste, may be materials that could be used in the economy. The polyester-glass waste used in the composite was created by crushing and then grinding and sieving to obtain the appropriate granulation. Materials with a waste content of 0%, 10%, 20% and with granulation of this waste of ≤ 1.2 mm were made using the hand lamination method. Test specimens were prepared from the material plates that were obtained in accordance with the PN-EN ISO 179-1: 2010E standard (Plastics – Charpy Impact Assessment – Part 1: Non-instrumental impact test). Impact tests of samples were carried out according to the above-mentioned standards using a Zwick Roell RKP450 swinging hammer. Test bench instrumentation and software enabled the bending forces to be recorded, as well as the deflection of the samples for short time intervals and displacement, so a detailed force-deflection graph could be obtained. During the analysis, the results of the research were focused on describing the kinetics of the process where the samples were destroyed (fracture mechanics), this allowed for the initial determination of the material’s resistance to dynamic loads. The results obtained showed that the increase of the recycled content in the produced composite contributed to the lowering of the destructive force threshold in the impact tests, as well as the simultaneous increase of the plasticity of the material. The increase of the sample’s deflection with the occurrence of the maximum force resulted in the energy of the elastic state being increased (Ue).

In this article the problem of plastic recycling, and in particular waste polyester-glass, has been described. In brief, the technology for the production of new composite materials by hand, made by the contact method, using the matrix filling in the form of polyester-glass waste coming from worn-out laminates used in the construction of ship hulls. The waste used was a powdered mixture of resin particles, glass fibers, and composite particle agglomerates. A method for producing composite panels with a recyclate content of between 10% and 30% was carried out. The samples were then manufactured according to the requirements of the standard, i.e. PN-EN ISO 527-4_2000P. Samples obtained from the test plates were subjected to a static stretch test, to verify the impact of the integrated wastes on the mechanical properties of the composite. Photographs of the structure of the obtained material have also been presented. These photos showed significant differences in the composition of the resulting composites determined by the amount of waste material used. Analysis of the results indicated that increasing the amount of recyclate reduces the value of the material’s strength limit and also reduces the plasticity of the material. This article has provided an introduction to more comprehensive research on the recycling of plastics.

Polyester-glass composites are widely used in many industries, in various types of constructions, including dynamically loaded ones. This article examines the influence of the content of a glass-polyester recycled additive on the strength properties of layered composites. The recyclate was polyester-glass waste, which was pre-crushed and then milled into the appropriate fractions. Manual laminating technology was used to make the materials. The composite materials were made with a waste content of 0%, 10%, 20% and granulations of ≥ 1.2 mm and ≥ 3 mm. Samples for testing were prepared in accordance with the PN-EN ISO 179-1: 2010E standard (Plastics – Charpy Impact Assessment – Part 1: Non-instrumental impact test). Impact tests of the samples were performed using the Charpy method with the Zwick Roell RKP450 swinging hammer. The test results showed that the addition of polyester-glass recyclate, its content %, and its granulation size, have an impact on the composite resistance to loads in dynamic tests.

The attractive characteristics of polyester-glass composites have led to their use in many industries, but using them as structural elements requires knowing their mechanical properties. This paper presents processing methods of polyester and glass scrap and their use in the production of new composites. This scrap, called the recyclate, was pre-crushed, ground, and then passed through sieves to obtain the desired fractions. Composite materials with added recyclate were made by hand lamination. Composites were made and then used to conduct appropriate tests to determine the degree of cure of the resin, and to determine the effect of the polyester- glass recyclate content on the hardness of composites. For this purpose, rectangular panels with a thickness of g = 8 mm were produced by manual lamination. Each plate contained 0% glass mat, 10% resin, and 20% recyclate with granulation ≤ 1.2 mm and ≤ 3 mm. Then, test samples were formed from each plate. Hardness measurements were performed using the ball-pressing method. In addition, structural studies were carried out to determine the correlation between the structural and mechanical properties of the discussed materials. The obtained test results showed that the recyclate content and its granulation clearly affected the mechanical properties of the tested composite materials.