Compostos à base de EVA reciclado para utilização em calçados.

Abstract

The growing of the world population has motivated researchers from different areas to use the technology in the benefit of the society in a practical and sustainable way, conciliating scientific, technological and social development. The result of these advances is the increase on the consumption, generating wastes that have been one of the vectors of the Planet disequilibrium. From the point of view of the materials, an example of this problem is the incineration and disposal of polymeric materials in a dump or in a shed, which is harmful to the environment. One of these materials is the Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) copolymer, which is widely used in the footwear industry as expanded plates for obtaining insoles, midsoles and outsoles. Every year, about 7,932 tons are discarded in the Vale dos Sinos – RS region, which is Brazil’s main footwear producer. Paraíba State is the 3rd major footwear producer in Brazil. The aim of this research went to make the reuse of EVA wastes possible by the footwear industry, and hence attenuate the volume of the waste generated. Compositions containing 10, 20, and 30% of EVA12 waste (EVAR), 10 and 20% of CaCO3 and 2 mL of plasticizer were prepared. The samples were compared to the resins commonly used by the footwear industries, like EVA 19 and EVA 28. The comparisons attained the specific values of the area and according to the performance reached, the proposed compositions obtained favorable results, regarding to modeling aspects, finishing and mechanical properties such as hardness and abrasion, attaining the requirements of footwear industries.