Resin recycling

[magentared]

I know epoxy resin is a thermosetting plastic so can not be heated and reshape in the usual way but is there a way it can be melted down and given new life, I'm thinking of things like paperweights. Does anyone know?
Thanks

[stoo_pid]

As far as I'm aware it is generally not possible to recycle thermoset plastic.  I vaguely recall my CDT teacher telling us it is theoretically possible by the process of hydrolosis or pyrolosis but its not cheap or very successful (at least not when I was at school).  Landfill or incineration are usually the only options.

[Ralph]

Maybe you could shred it into little chips and cast these into some clear polyester casting resin. That's about all you can do with cured epoxy. If you try to melt it, you're more likely to poison yourself with the fumes.
If you look at some of the tables outside a McDonalds, you'll see that more frequently they have a fibrous texture. This is the only successful means of recycling GRP boats to date. They shred them up, add a bit more resin then press table tops & legs out of them.