Mitsubishi improves e-cycling process

Mitsubishi is working to make recycling e-waste more efficient through a new technology announced last week.

Typically, e-waste recycling means separating out plastics from electronic components, and the various types of plastic also need to be sorted, and the resins need to be removed from the shards of waste, all of which becomes a fairly complex process. Mitsubishi’s process, the details of which are still under wraps, will simplify removal of polystyrene, polypropylene, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resins (say that three times fast…) and the whole process becomes much easier, with Mitsubishi claiming the process has a 99% purity rate of recovered plastics.

The revamped process will be performed at a new recycling plant just outside of Tokyo that the company will build starting in October of next year. The simplification of any process typically also means energy savings, so we’re eager to hear more details and see for ourselves just how far-reaching the eco-impact of the process is.

Via GoodCleanTech