Abstract
Since the ‘Act for Recycling of Specified Kinds of Household Appliances’ was enacted in 2001, Japan consumer electronic manufacturers have had to assume responsibility for all discarded household appliances. Moreover, in expectation of a future rise in required recycled rates, it will be necessary to develop new material recycling technologies for plastics. The purity of the recycled polypropylene (PP) sorted from a mixture of residual plastics from discarded household appliances is 99.8% or higher. Moreover, the mechanical properties and heat oxidation resistance of recycled PP are similar to those of the virgin PP. Recycled PP can be applied to household appliances.
The paper presents evaluation of the mechanical properties and heat resistance properties of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and polystyrene (PS) sorted from a mixture of residual plastics. The heat oxidation resistance of recycled ABS and PS were found to be superior to these of virgin ABS and PS. The recycled ABS and PS were stable in terms of heat resistance properties in a heat deterioration test (80 °C 6800 hr). Results show that recycled ABS and PS are applicable to new home appliances.
