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Automotive use of reinforced plastic composites has grown significantly at the same time that environmental pressures have increased demanding responsible recycling of all materials. The suppliers of sheet molding composite (SMC) recognize their responsibility to ensure that viable recycling techniques are developed. To this end, the SMC molders and their raw material suppliers are investigating processes that create the opportunity to produce viable products from recycled SMC. To fully “close the loop,” the successful recycling of automotive-grade, glass-reinforced, unsaturated-polyester-based composites such as SMC (also included are bulk molding compound [BMC] and thick molding compound [TMC]) must include the reuse of the recycled material in the production of new composite parts. This paper discusses the compounding, molding and testing of automotive parts molded from composites containing recycled SMC.

The use of reinforced polymers, especially SMC (Sheet Molding Composite), in the design of automobile parts has grown significantly since their first use some 40 years ago. Forty million pounds of SMC was used in 1970 and a projected 200 million pounds are slated for use in the auto industry in 1995. In the past five to ten years, environmental pressures demanding the responsible recycling of all materials have increased. The SMC Automotive Alliance (SMCAA), a joint effort of SMC molders and their raw material suppliers, has been proactive in developing answers to this challenge. In the past five years, cooperative research and development programs with automotive OEMs and the recycling business sector have led to the commercialization of processes to recycle and reuse both post-industrial and eventually post-consumer SMC in new automotive applications.