JBMIA Commercializes Recycled Polystyrene with 90 wt% PCR for Office Equipment
Industry association deploys a shared recycling scheme achieving virgin-grade polystyrene with 90 wt% post-consumer content.
The Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association (JBMIA) announced the commercial deployment of a standardized recycled polystyrene (PS) compound developed jointly across the printing equipment industry, according to PR TIMES prtimes.jp
PR TIMESprtimes.jpOpen source ↗.
To balance material supply and performance, the project engineered a "hybrid PCR" formulation combining PS recovered from four major categories of home appliances with resin recovered from office automation devices. This formulation achieved a post-consumer recycled (PCR) content of 90 wt% while matching the mechanical specifications of virgin plastic.
The initiative standardized resin requirements across manufacturers by focusing on general-purpose colors, specifically gray and black, to minimize property variance. The joint scheme integrates supply lines, material compounding, and quality assurance, enabling horizontal closed-loop recycling in mass-production commercial hardware.
JBMIA plans to expand this shared autonomous recycling model beyond polystyrene to additional polymers, including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE) prtimes.jp
PR TIMESprtimes.jpOpen source ↗.
