Abstract
The enactment of a new law in April 2001 requiring the recycling of home electric appliances (televisions (TV), refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing-machines etc.) has made the recycling of waste plastics discharged from disposable home electric appliances an important issue in Japan. Since many of the plastics used in the back-cabinets of television sets (TVBC) contain flame retardant agents, it has been pointed out that such recycling may present difficulties.
In this research, special attention has been paid to TVBCs made of polystyrene resin (PS-TVBC) . These were collected for recycling at the home electric appliances recycling factory (HEARF), where they were processed into recycling pellets, and their basic mechanical properties closely monitored.
Results showed that the resin pellets reproduced from PS-TVBC possessed good basic mechanical properties. It follows that if the suitable sorting recovery of PS-TVBC is carried out at HEARF, material recycling of PS-TVBC should be fully possible. It is moreover possible that a high level of material recycling in the loop from TV to TV may also be achieved.
