Quality assurance of recycled engineering plastics using blend technology

The automotive, electrical and electronic sectors account for over 12 % of all plastics consumed. A large fraction of these polymers are engineering p lastics representing a value considerably higher than that of commodity the rmoplastics; hence, mechanical recycling including upgrading efforts appear s economically attractive. This paper shows some methods of upgrading the p roperty profile of ABS from dismantled automobiles using polymer blend tech nology. The results for blends of ABS with PC or PA are reported. The aim o f blending of the waste materials is twofold: to reduce the number of plast ic materials to be recycled in car dismantling plants, and to improve prope rties of the ABS scrap, which is the main engineering plastic in the waste stream from automobiles.