Upcycling of industrial footwear waste into nonwoven fibrous structures with thermal and acoustic insulation properties

The footwear industry significantly impacts the environment, from raw material extraction to waste disposal. Transforming waste into new products is a viable option to mitigate the environmental consequences, reducing the reliance on virgin raw materials. This work aims to develop thermal and acoustic insulation materials using polyester waste from footwear industry. Two nonwoven and two compressed nonwoven structures, comprising 80% polyester waste and 20% commercial recycled polyester (matrix), were produced. The materials were created through needle-punching and compression molding techniques. The study included the production of sandwich and monolayer nonwoven structures, which were evaluated considering area weight, thickness, air permeability, mechanical properties, morphology using field emission scanning electron microscopy, and thermal and acoustic properties. The nonwoven samples presented high tensile strength (893 kPa and 629 kPa) and the highest strain (79.7% and 73.3%) and compressed nonwoven structures showed higher tensile strength (2700 kPa and 1291 kPa) but reduced strain (25.8% and 40.8%). Nonwoven samples showed thermal conductivity of 0.041 W/K.m and 0.037 W/K.m. Compressed nonwoven samples had higher values at 0.060 W/K.m and 0.070 W/K.m. While the sample with the highest conductivity exceeds typical insulation levels, other samples are suitable for thermal insulation. Nonwoven structures exhibited good absorption coefficients (0.640-0.644), suitable for acoustic insulation. Compressed nonwoven structures had lower values (0.291-0.536), unsuitable for this purpose. In summary, this study underscores the potential of 100% recycled polyester structures derived from footwear and textile industry waste, showcasing remarkable acoustic and thermal insulation properties ideal for the construction sector.