Patent — available for licensing
Polymer Composite Material
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
Many municipal curbside recycling programs fund their operations by selling recyclable waste. Unfortunately, over the past several years, the price of recyclable plastic and glass waste has dropped due to lack of demand. The lack of demand also means that more recyclable waste plastic and glass is being sent to landfills rather than being put to further use in the market. This places a larger strain on waste processing facilities, landfills, and the environment. Engineers at Kennedy Space Center have developed a new process for preparing composite materials made of a solid polymer binder and a solid filler which may, in some cases, be made from recycled sources. The material is intended to minimize the amount of plastics and recycling stream waste that goes to landfill and create additional uses/markets for recycling stream based products.