Global Recyclable Thermoset Market:

Finding ways to deal with the ever-increasing amount of difficult to recycle waste especially after the ban on waste import in China combined with the strict landfill reduction laws in European countries has caused an upsurge in the global recycling market. Development of new technologies by companies to improve the recyclability of thermosetting materials and the financial backing they receive in the form of several rounds of funding has propelled the market for recyclable thermoset market to grow. Thermoset waste can be either end-of-life waste or it can be production scrap. Thermosets have traditionally been known for being rigid and non-recyclable after curing due to the large number of cross-links in its structure. Traditional methods of avoiding these wastes from entering the landfill include mechanical recycling and incineration. The breakdown of thermosetting materials into fine particles for use in small quantities as a filler or reinforcement is termed as mechanical recycling. The process has been carried out manually for the past several years, which has resulted in Asia-Pacific countries like China and India dominate the market for this technology as the low cost of labor in the region provided a cheap alternative to landfill disposal. Although the technology has been widely practiced, it has not been very profitable. The quality limitations of mechanically recycled materials restrict their usage in products used for demanding applications. Moreover, the use of mechanically recycled thermosets as a filler is often more expensive for manufacturers as compared with traditional fillers. Recycling through incineration is termed as energy recovery, but it has not been supported by the governments across the globe. The process generates harmful gases into the atmosphere and the large amount of heat generated from the combustion of thermosets can hardly be utilized efficiently for useful purposes.

Growth in the recyclable thermoset market is directly dependent on the improvement in quality of the recycled material. For the manufacturers to utilize recycled thermoset materials in their products, they must find the materials valuable enough to invest in them. Thus, companies have entered the market with new and improved technologies which yield recycled materials that have properties comparable with the virgin material. New avenues like coprocessing of waste thermoset composites in cement kilns have also been promoted as they offer a better alternative to simple incineration. While recycling of thermoset materials to retrieve high quality, monomers remains in the development stage, the adoption of coprocessing as a fast and effective technology for recycling of thermosets has been fast. European countries which are focused on utilizing wind power for reducing their dependence on conventional sources of energy, produce end-of-life wind turbine blades which are recycled using coprocessing in cement kilns. China and India being the largest producers of cement globally, hold huge potential for the recycling of thermosetting waste using this technology.

Companies like Connora Technologies, Adesso Advanced Materials, and Mallinda LLC, among others have developed chemical processes to make thermosets completely recyclable. The technologies developed by these companies hold huge potential to cause disruption in the materials market. They provide an effective and complete solution to the problem of recycling of thermosets. These companies have attracted interest from leading manufacturers across different industries and have also received financial backing in the form of funding which helps them commercialize their product. The two new recyclable thermosets developed by IBM Research namely, polyhexahydrotriazine (PHT) and poly hemiaminal are also attracting interest from various companies willing to use them commercially.

Market growth over the forecast period will be driven by certain factors such as government initiatives to reduce landfill, development of new technologies and materials, and funding for companies to help them expand. Major factors restraining the growth of the market include lack of profitability in the recycling process and the lack of quality standards.

The global recyclable thermoset market was valued at $XX million in 2016 which is expected to reach $704.1 million in 2026 growing at a CAGR of XX% from 2016 to 2026. The growth in the market is attributed to the increasing volumes of thermosetting wastes being generated and the government regulations which ensure the reduction in landfill disposal. The market in terms of volume is expected to grow from XX kilotons in 2016 to XX kilotons in 2026 at a CAGR of 5.2%. The improvement in recycling technologies which yield better quality of recycled materials would promote the recycling of thermoset wastes as it would then find usage in larger number of end-user industries.

The recyclable thermoset market encompasses a wide array of technologies such as mechanical recycling, energy recovery, and feedstock recycling; and resins such as unsaturated polyester resin (UPR), epoxy, phenol formaldehyde (phenolic), polyurethane, and others. 

The advantages offered by recyclable thermoset technologies make them useful in a wide array of end-user industries, such as construction, automotive, power generation, electrical & electronics, and others. The development of better technologies would help in yielding high quality recycled materials, which would open new avenues for the usage of recycled thermosets in demanding applications.

The trends of the recyclable thermoset market vary with different geographical regions. The recyclable thermoset market holds a prominent share in various countries of Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa, and South America. Presently, Asia Pacific region is at the forefront of the recyclable thermoset market, with high penetration in countries like China, Japan, India, and South Korea, among others. The large thermoset production and end-user industries based in the region, specifically China drive the fast growth of recyclable thermosets in the region. The European market is also expected to witness fast growth. The development of new technologies and the fast adoption of recycling techniques after the import ban of wastes in China will propel the fast growth in the region.

Competitive Landscape

The latest strategies & developments adopted by the key market players in the recyclable thermoset in order to lead the market are mentioned in this section. The companies, in order to grow their market work in collaboration with the top market leaders, acquire the relatively weaker companies, bring new products and services to the market, and improve the existing products.

Mallinda was awarded $150K by the National Science Foundation in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-TECP supplementary funding mechanism in August 2017, which would help them in commercializing their product. In September 2016, INTCO Recycling's GreenMax compactor was used by Free Form Factory Limited to convert scrap foam into reusable foam.

Adesso Advanced Materials and Mallinda, LLC have been quite active in the adoption of this approach. Adesso Advanced Materials partnered with University of Southern California in February 2017 for the development of recyclable resins to be used in composites for wind power applications. Mallinda partnered with Larta Institute in July 2015 to develop and improve its plan for commercialization for the phase 2 of the NSF-SBIR application.

Research and development (R&D) is a key factor that influences the growth in the market. Companies work in collaboration with institutes to develop better technologies for the recycling of thermosets. The growth in the recyclable thermoset market is largely dependent on the quality of products that are yielded by recycling, as stringent government regulations are now in place to promote the recycling of waste.

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