Polyplastics launches sustainability initiative for recycling engineering plastics

Polyplastics Group has launched the DURACIRCLE initiative, aiming at contributing to achieving a 100% recycling rate for engineering plastics, without being confined to the existing business model of manufacturing and selling plastics.

At phase one of the sustainability initiative, Polyplastics starts the new DURACIRCLE Re-compounding Service business which will offer high-quality mechanically recycled materials starting by March 2024.

The company remarks that DURACIRCLE Re-compounding Service is a clear departure from conventional recycling as its aim is to perform horizontal recycling.

Features and illistration of DURACIRCLE Re-compounding Service.

Horizontal recycling is a recycling method to recycle products into the same products, such as recovering plastic bottles and recycling them back into plastic bottles. It is considered difficult with engineering plastics since these materials require high quality in subsequent uses.

Pre-consumer materials are raw materials such as hot runners and non-conforming products that arise in manufacturing processes before products reach consumers, also referred to as post-industrial recycling (PIR) materials.

In addition to expanding DURACIRCLE to markets outside of Japan, Polyplastics plans to develop and offer recycling technologies for post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials which are even harder to reprocess.