INNOVATION | ELECTRONIC AND AUTOMOTIVE


Right: Components in a Bosch dishwasher base showed similar performance when made with recycled material compared with virgin material, says Fraunhofer LBF


structure of the dishwasher, holding the side walls and housing components such as pumps, condition sensors and containers for salt. The source of material used in


the project was the housings of car starter batteries and this material was recycled and recompounded with additives to increase strength and improve optical proper- ties. The researchers produced test specimens and tested them around 100,000 times with a defined force. Fraunhofer LBF says a finger-thick plastic post on the base plate of the dishwasher is mechanically stressed every time the dishwasher door is opened and closed and is the most demanding cyclically stressed area on the dish- washer base carrier. It says: “Assuming around 15 openings per day and a service life of the device of around 18 years, this equates to around 100,000 door openings per device life. Can a post made from recycled material withstand that?” Dominik Spancken at Fraunhofer LBF says:


“Although the recyclate has 15% lower strength, it has similar stiffness properties as the virgin plastic. Much more important, however, is the plastic deformability, in which both materials behave equally. In summary, it can be said: the recyclate can withstand the same stresses as new material.” The positive results from testing specimens were


backed up by further tests on the compo- nent made from recyclate. The results were encouraging: the resilience of the parts made of recycled material differed only slightly from parts made of virgin material, says Fraun- hofer LBF. Recycling compa- nies specialised in WEEE and waste automotive materials


continue to address technical challenges, often helped by suppliers. Sysplast, based in Nuremberg, Germany, has


lengthy experience recycling technical plastics, having its origins in the 1970s as part of the Grundig group –it is now part of Energenta Group. Sysplast specialises in recycling styrenic materials such as PS, ABS and PC/ABS, arising from the electronics and automotive industries. Melt filtration technology company Ettlinger


(part of Maag) says it helped Sysplast in 2021 when it commissioned a Leistritz extruder and installed a self-cleaning ERF 350 high-performance filter on the line. The feed material is single-type regrind from the recycling of old electrical appliances and the processing of mixed post-industrial and post-con- sumer plastics. Most of the material comes from Energenta Recycling Solutions. Udo Dobberke, Managing Director of Sysplast,


says: “The electronics industry, including telecom- munications, consumer electronics and the automotive industry, only accepts products whose processing and performance characteristics are on a par with new products.” For this reason, the line’s melt filter needs to have high filtration perfor- mance and reliable, continuous availability over long running times, which is what Etllinger pro- vided. “Screen blockages and filter changes bring fluctuations in production that we cannot afford. And because we produce recompounds for premium applications, the filter must reliably separate impurities with minimal melt loss.” Modified surfaces are relatively common in plastic


Above: At Sysplast, an Ettlinger high-performance ERF 350 melt filter separates impurities from the melt in a self-cleaning and largely mainte- nance-free process. Left: Udo Dobberke, Sysplast Managing Director; right: Karsten Bräunig, Ettlinger Sales Manager


44 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | July/August 2022


electronic and automotive parts, leading to specific contamination challenges. Sysplast recycles electro- plated plastics, mostly ABS, from the automotive industry and the sanitary and household goods sector. With its partner Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV), the company has developed a process in which both the plastic and the metals are completely recycled. In this process, an Ettlinger ERF 350 has been reliably removing residual particles from the metallisation process from the melt since the end of 2021.


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


IMAGE: BOSCH


IMAGE: ETTLINGER


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