Since 2012, the research team at the Chambéry institute has been working on controlling the life cycle of complex products containing plastics. This is evidenced by recent and ongoing theses, such as Nicolas's, which began in November 2020.
Nicolas works in partnership with the eco-organization ecosystem and several other recycling and EEE production companies on this issue, which contributes to the development of the circular economy for plastics and echoes many environmental, political, and economic challenges.
The development of a standardized technical data sheet for recycled plastic
EEE are everyday items such as large and small household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment, tools, toys, medical devices, vending machines, etc.
Plastics are ubiquitous in the composition of EEE. The problem is that the vast majority of these plastics come from virgin resources. Although there is a market for recycled plastics, their use remains very limited, especially in the field of EEE, which itself is composed of 40 to 50% plastics.
One reason is that the WEEE waste treatment sector is not suited to the products and materials it encounters. As a result, plastics are often overlooked in favor of metals, which are more economically viable to recycle. In addition, the plastic parts of these products are not designed with dismantling and recycling in mind, which leads to material losses.
Secondly, there is a lack of communication between suppliers of recycled plastic (processing channels) and users (EEE manufacturers). Studies show that the three main barriers to the use of recycled plastics are a lack of knowledge about recycled resins, a lack of data on the quality of these resins, and uncertainties about supply.
The search for a standardized communication format between suppliers and users enabled Nicolas to draw up a technical data sheet.
It lists all the parameters needed to define "quality" for recycled plastics. It is completed by the supplier for each batch produced, thus facilitating the transmission of information to users.
Among other things, it includes categories for chemical composition, technical and functional properties, regulatory compliance, material origin and availability, and environmental footprint. Once the technical data sheet has been completed, users can choose the plastic that best meets their needs.
Do not disadvantage recycled plastics in favor of virgin plastics.
All criteria in the data sheet are weighted according to their "importance" in consultation with manufacturers in the recycled plastics industry: importance for the user, relevance for defining a material quality grade, and ease of testing the batch to obtain the property on the supplier side.
Nicolas is now looking for data providers who already have material databases. The aim is to cross-reference the criteria he has identified in the file with those in these material databases to see how we stand in terms of information.
This approach, combined with the weighting of criteria, provides a double safeguard. We carefully check that the technical specifications are not too demanding, which could otherwise disadvantage recycled plastics compared to virgin plastics.
Selling recycled plastic should not be any more difficult than selling virgin plastic!
