Companies Produce Fax Ribbon Component from Scrap Plastics

Axion Recycling, London, and Brother, the printer and fax manufacturer, have successfully conducted a trial project to manufacturer a fax ribbon component part from an “on grade” polymer compound derived from plastic housings collected from WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment).

“This has emphatically closed the loop on the recycling process because it demonstrates that it is possible to meet exacting brand-leading material property specifications and produce a quality product indistinguishable from a conventionally produced component,” Keith Freeguard of Axion Recycling says.

The internal fax machine component, produced at Brother’s Ruabon plant in North Wales, was chosen for the trial because the company already had a specification for this part to be made from recycled polymer derived from printer cartridges.

Axion assisted in the project by demonstrating that a simple, effective sorting system could identify and differentiate between different types of plastics from dismantled scrap material.

Over two metric tons of shredded WEEE plastic scrap was used in the trial. The material was subjected to a range of cleaning and separation processes to produce roughly 800 kg of sorted, single polymer material. Then, with the addition of an impact modifier, a 100 kg sample of black specification polystyrene pellets was delivered for Brother’s injection molding trial, undertaken with full quality control assessment.

Neil Lloyd-Richards, technical manager of Brother Industries (UK) limited injection molding subsidiary GKK, says, “This trial proves that the sorting and recycling of WEEE plastic waste can give a viable high quality polymer which can be used to produce high quality high specification components.”

According to Axion’s Keith Freeguard, the trial demonstrates that by combining good processing techniques with a high standard of material quality control, it is possible to achieve a high level of environmental and economic benefits.

Freeguard adds, “Not only does the inclusion of recycled components satisfy the corporate environmental goals, it also delivers a real economic benefit in terms of reduced raw material costs.”