Matsushita Electric Develops Advanced Plastics Recycling Equipment

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., developed an advanced plastic recycling system capable of separating flame retardants from plastic used in end-of-life consumer electronics, such as TV sets, while maintaining the plastic's original physical properties. It opens the way for recycling the material in recovered plastics. This major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer plans to release a commercial version of the system during its fiscal 2003, which ends March 31, 2004.

The newly-developed system, which aims to efficiently recycle plastics containing flame retardants, makes it possible to recycle plastics from end-of-life consumer electronics products with little damage to their original physical properties and mold them into parts for new products. It has the potential to make "product-to-product" recycling possible, a goal that Matsushita has been pursuing, as well as to further increase the recycling ratio of consumer electronics products.

In the process a liquid solvent usable at relatively low temperatures (160- 200 degrees Celsius) melts only flame retardants and separates them from the plastic. The system emits no environmentally harmful substances because the solvent is reusable and the process, including treatment of the solvent, is performed in a closed system. In the next step of the process, additives can be added to give the desired characteristics to the newly-recycled plastic.

Currently, plastics containing flame retardants in end-of-life TV sets are mostly incinerated or sent to landfills for disposal. Glass and metal, about 60 percent of the total weight, are already recycled. This left the recycling of plastics, just under half of the remaining weight, as a major challenge in material recycling. In connection with development of the system, the company has filed for eleven patent applications in Japan and four overseas, some of which have already been approved.



Posted: 2002/11/24 05:22:07 PM
Japanese version