Newly-developed Recycling Technology Simultaneously Sorts and Collects Three Types of Plastic

Panasonic Corporation recently developed a recycling technology that simultaneously sorts and collects three types of plastic - PP, PS, and ABS - from shredded dust produced at home electronics appliances recycling plants at three times the speed of conventional systems. This technology will help accelerate the use of recycled plastic.

Structure of the Existing Technology and the Newly Developed Technology

Background

In the past, shredded dust from disassembled home appliances was treated as waste or used as fuel, but in 2010, Panasonic developed a near-infrared technology, that made it possible to collect and recycle plastics from shredded dust. Having said that, a reset operation was needed for each type of plastic, so the processing speed was not fast enough.

Features

The newly developed technology simultaneously sorts three types of plastics (PP, PS, ABS) from shredded dust with 99% accuracy.
Here are the key features of the new recycling technology:

1. Maintains a specific trajectory regardless of the shape of each shredded plastic due to optimal air stream control.

2. Simultaneously sorts and collects three types of plastic with a high-precision air blowing technology unique to Panasonic featuring an optimized blowing time and location.

3. A high-speed signal processing system simultaneously controls plastic identification and air blowing.

This system equipped with the newly developed technology has been implemented at the Panasonic Eco Technology Center Co., Ltd.

Looking ahead

The system is currently up and running at the Panasonic Eco Technology Center, but in the future, it will be applied to other recycling plants of the Panasonic Group, thereby contributing to the reuse of plastics recovered from shredded dust.