Duroplast

Duroplast is a resin plastic made up mixing formica and bakelite reinforced with fibres (either cotton or wool) or glass fibres.

Uses

Duroplast was used by Eastern European automobile manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau to produce the body of the popular Trabant motor car, toilet seats, and parts for the BMW X3.

Duroplast was first used in the body of the IFA F8 and later also the AWZ P70 or Zwickau P70 and later used in the body of the Trabant. Apart from the use in cars duroplast was also used to make suitcases.

Properties

Duroplast is light, flexible, and strong. It was also made of recycled material, cotton waste from Russia and phenol resins from the East German dye industry making the Trabant the first car with a body made of recycled material[1] Archived 2015-07-03 at the Wayback Machine. Because it can be made in a press similar to shaping steel, it's easy to produce.

Critics

Duroplast cannot be completely recycled, and burning it produces toxic fumes, so disposing of the bodies of old Trabants is a problem. There are stories of pigs, sheep or other domestic farm animals consuming duroplast.

A Berlin biotechnology company claims that it has developed a solution to the duroplast problem: a bacterium that will eat a Trabant in 20 days and leave only compost. In the last years the Duroplast was smashed and put cement blocks for pavement construction.