Scrap material having both a thermoplastic polyurethane and a copolymer of
ethylene and vinyl alcohol is recycled by blending the scrap material into a thermoplastic
polyurethane composition and preparing a barrier membrane from the blended material.
The virgin thermoplastic polyurethane and the thermoplastic polyurethane of the
scrap material are polymerized using at least about 60 percent by weight, based
on the weight of the polyurethane produced, of a polyester diol having a weight
average molecular weight of at least about 500 and having from four to five carbon
atoms between substantially all of the ester [—O—C(O)—]
groups. The blend material containing the virgin thermoplastic urethane and the
scrap material is formed into a layer of a barrier membrane. The resulting membrane
has a haze of no more than about 12%.