As EU environmental legislation concerning the collection and recycling of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) went into effect this past August, OEMs are looking into design changes including reducing the variety of plastics used in electrical and electronic products.
"The variable "recyclability" of different plastics will also become a determining factor when OEMs choose the plastics to be used in EEE products. Plastics that are easier to recycle will command better value, thus Monomaterial (unfilled) plastics or unblended and crystalline polymers will be favored," explains Lucia Castro Diaz, research analyst with Frost & Sullivan. However plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that are not easily recyclable will lose value. In addition, colored plastics that do not require paint or finish coatings will become more popular, since removal of coatings is time-consuming.
For a research overview email Katja Feick at [email protected].
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