Plastic recycling in business machines

A process was developed and implemented for the recovery and recycling of plastics from end-of-life IBM products into new IBM products. In general, the economics for this type of recycling, closed loop, has the greatest potential for achieving profitability. In addition to keeping the plastic out of the landfill, product material cost is reduced and there is no expense for plastics disposal. Factors affecting the recyclability and value of recovered plastics were identified and examined. These factors included the type and amount of plastic involved, the type and degree of contamination, the difficulty in removing contaminates, and the potential end-use application. Considerations from these studies supporting the technical and economic feasibility of establishing a plastic recovery process are discussed