Design from Recycling for post-consumer WEEE plastics G. Vyncke 1 , J. Onnekink 2 , T. Feenstra 2 , K. Ragaert 1 1 Centre for Polymer and Material Technologies, Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium 2 Pezy Group, Narvikweg 5-5, Groningen, 9723 TV, The Netherlands Keywords: plastics recycling, post-consumer, mechanical recycling, design from recycling, WEEE Presenting author email: kim.ragaert@ugent.be Abstract Waste from electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE), is an increasingly growing source for post-consumer plastics. Reasons for this include the rapid development of new electronic and electrical equipment (EEE), combined with the ever-reducing lifetime of consumer products, as well as European legislation. Plastics from WEEE typically include ABS, PC, ABS/PC blends, (filled) PP and HIPS as majority fractions. These thermoplastics are – at least theoretically – very suitable for mechanical recycling. However, plastics converters are still somewhat reticent to use these secondary raw materials in their products, either because they have little faith in the (reproducible) quality of recycled feedstock or because they lack product development tools for the use of these recycled polymers. With Design from Recycling, we offer strategic tools that can facilitate the effective incorporation of recycled WEEE plastics into high-quality new EEE products. Introduction The production of electrical and electronical equipment (EEE) keeps growing with an increasing pace due to a rapid economic growth. These increasing quantities of products are accompanied with a substantial growth in waste from electrical and electronical equipment (WEEE). The waste is mainly generated in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries where the market is saturated with huge quantities of electrical and electronical goods [1]. But even so, WEEE tonnages in the EU are not to be underestimated, given the rapid development of new EEE products and the ever-reducing lifetime of these consumer products [2]. European legislation is in place to promote the recovery and re-use of WEEE materials, such as the European Directive (2000/53/EC) and the WEEE directive (2002/96/EC), which state that at least 70-80% of materials of end-of-life vehicles and WEEE have to be recovered in the form of energy and/or materials. It is estimated that globally, 20-50 million tonnes of WEEE is generated annually and makes up five percent of all municipal solid waste [3]. WEEE consists of a large variety of materials (mostly ferrous and non-ferrous metals, glass and plastics). A typical WEEE fraction contains 20-30 wt% plastics [2], which is even more in volume percentages as plastics typically have much lower densities than metals. The general composition of the plastic fraction itself is depicted in Figure 1: the main polymers present are acrylonitril-butadieen- styreen (ABS), high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), polycarbonate (PC), PC/ABS blends and polypropylene (PP). Theoretically, all of these polymers can be separated into monostreams of relatively high purity and then be reused in new product applications. However, some practical hurdles remain. One of the main challenges is the variability in the material composition between batches, due to the presence of polymer mixtures, additives or contaminations. Moreover, it is well known that polymers are subject to degradation, occurring both during their lifetime and during the reprocessing of the materials [4]. These will inevitably lead to a loss of quality, as will the presence of impurities of any kind. Figure 1: Typical compostion of WEEE [2]