Toray Resins Europe GmbH (TREU), the marketing & sales subsidiary of Toray Industries, Inc., has established a recycling process for glass-fiber-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin waste from injection molding processes. TREU created the process by leveraging proprietary compounding technology in collaboration with tolling partner MKV GmbH Kunststoffgranulate.

MKV is a compounding company based in Beselich, Germany. It specializes in recycling engineering and high-performance plastics. Such resin has 50% recycled content and retains at least 90% of the mechanical strength that injection grades from original materials deliver.

45% Lower Carbon Footprint

SKZ – Das Kunststoff-Zentrum, also known as the German Plastics Center, is a leading plastics testing and research institution based in Würzburg. SKZ calculated and verified that PPS made with this recycling process delivers a carbon footprint that is around 45% lower than the original PPS. The calculation was conducted based on the international LCA standards ISO 14040, ISO 14044, and the standard ISO 14067 “Carbon footprint of products”.

Ecouse TORELINA Brand

TREU supplies PPS resins to customers throughout Europe. The company is beginning to promote the recycled PPS as Ecouse TORELINA™. Specifically, Ecouse (pronounced Eco-use) is Toray’s integrated, worldwide brand for recycled materials and products.

Generally, glass fiber-reinforced PPS offers outstanding flame resistance, long-term durability, and chemical resistance. Accordingly, the material suits diverse applications. Among them include electric vehicles and other automobiles, electrical and electronic equipment, and water-related parts. Recently, growing global concerns about the environment accelerated recycling demand. Conventional glass fiber-reinforced PPS recycling undergoes repeated molding that shortens and breaks the glass fibers. Thus, it greatly degrades mechanical strength and constrained recycling rates.

Under the Toray Group Sustainability Vision, one of the goals of the company for 2050 is to realize a world in which resources are managed sustainably. Toray will keep striving to cater to customer demand for eco-friendly resins. This way, it aims to materialize its corporate philosophy of contributing to society. Accordingly, it will create new value through innovative ideas, technologies, and products.