Characterization and processing of plastics from minnesota's demonstration project for the recovery of end-of-life electronics

摘要

In an innovative public/private initiatie,the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance partnered with Sony Electronics,Panasonic Matsushita,Weste Management Asset Recovery Group,and the American Plastics Council,to collect and process end-of-life consumer electronics.Plastics characterization was done by MBA Polymers,Inc.Approximately 700 tons of electronic equipment were collected and processed during the three-month project period.This paper discusses what was learned during the project about processing plastics as well as what resins and contaminants are typically present in the residential electronics stream.In addition,because a specific goal of the project was to evaluate recovered plastics for use in high-end applications,physical properties were obtained on pelletized flame retardant HIPS material from televisions.