Abstract
Because material recycled plastic tends toward chemical degradation with the occurrence of a break down in the main chain, it is known to exhibit very low mechanical properties. Due to this, it has always been thought that regeneration of its mechanical properties was impossible. This is the main factor for stagnating ratios with regard to material recycling.
On the other hand, our findings show that the main factor behind low mechanical properties is a physical degradation in inner structure change and in fact, poor mechanical properties can be regenerated to almost the same value as virgin plastics by selecting appropriate molding conditions. We also found that the mechanical properties of injection-molded products greatly depend on the condition of the pelletized plastic. Through the process of this investigation, we discovered new mechanical equipment known as the “melt plastic reservoir.” With the introduction of this equipment, we can produce good pellets in a much more stable way. These findings will contribute substantially to the promotion of material recycling of waste plastics.
