Electronics recyclers grapple with plastics.In addition to soaring metals prices providing a boost for electronics recyclers, the developing demand for plastic scrap is also helping the bottom line of companies that process end-of-life electronics. Attendees heard some encouraging remarks at a session on the plastics portions of the electronics stream at the 2007 ISRI ISRI Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries ISRI Institute for Software Research, International (Carnegie Mellon University) ISRI Information Science Research Institute ISRI Intelligent Systems Research Institute (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.) Convention & Exhibition, which was April 18-21 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is a collection of buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana. The lower end of building one is located 500 m (1640 feet) upriver from Canal Street on the banks of the Mississippi River. Named after former mayor of New Orleans Ernest N. in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded . Butler-MacDonald, Indianapolis, Ind., has helped OEMs set up their own recovery systems in some cases, reported Terrence P. Bradshaw, a vice president with the company. Recycling systems the company has set up for toner An electrically charged ink used in copy machines and laser printers. It adheres to an invisible image that has been charged with the opposite polarity onto a plate or drum or onto the paper itself. and printer cartridge manufacturers are producing HIPS pellets and flake flake an epidermal scale. flake Cocaine, see there that can garner from 42 to 63 cents per pound when the product is clean enough to be used in the same application through a closed-loop process. The attractive pricing for the secondary commodities is a long way from the 5 to 12 cents per pound such pellets and flakes might be attracting in the export markets, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Bradshaw. Such closed-loop systems Noun 1. closed-loop system - a control system with a feedback loop that is active closed loop control system - a system for controlling the operation of another system can provide a marked contrast to the streams created at some electronics recycling facilities, where the wide variety of incoming obsolete electronics can make achieving high returns difficult. Mike Wright of Denver's Guaranteed Recycling Xperts said recycling plastic at his facility "presents challenges because of all the commingled resin types." Wright expressed optimism, however, that the "challenge is going to be solved" by innovative separating and sorting techniques. "As techniques improve, that challenge will solve itself." (For more on this topic and one company's approach to it, see the Electronics Recycling Series feature starting on p. 116.) [GRAPHIC OMITTED] (Additional news about plastics recycling markets is available online at www.RecyclingToday.com.) |
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