The board of directors for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries voted to adopt the Electronic Engineering Thermoplastic Recycling Material Guidelines at its meeting last month. The EETP Guidelines were developed by the Stakeholder Dialogues for Recycling Engineering Thermoplastics from Used Electronics Equipment, a project of the Gordon Institute at Tufts University.
The Guidelines will be published in the ISRI Digest this month, and in the ISRI Scrap Specifications Circular, which should be published next month.
The EETP Recycled Material Guidelines provide a common language and framework for the characterization of scrap plastics derived from used electronics. The Guidelines establish a set of standardized material grades with specifications (resin type, color, physical dimensions, acceptable contamination levels) to facilitate material preparation and market transactions with the ultimate goal of increasing the volume of scrap plastics moving into value applications. Over time, the Guidelines are intended to improve the quality and consistency of plastics recovered from used electronic equipment. The Guidelines were structured after the ISRI Scrap Specifications in order to expedite their use and adoption by the industry. Current scrap specifications for plastics address only bottles (rigid and flexible).
The EETP Recycled Material Guidelines were developed by the Material Characterization & Development Task Force of the Stakeholder Dialogue project.
More than 80 organizations have participated in the Dialogues since its inception. The Stakeholder Dialogue project is currently funded by the Polymer Alliance Zone of West Virginia. Past funders included the US EPA and the Massachusetts Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development.
Please visit the Stakeholder Dialogue website to learn more about the Guidelines and the Stakeholder Dialogue project at www.electronicsrecycling.net/stakeholder or contact Patty Dillon at patty.dillon@verizon.net or 978 346 9462.