Plastic recycling comes of age

Hyper Cycle Systems: Reclaiming Resources from End-of-Lifecycle Products

Genesis of a Sustainable Recycling Industry

photo: Hyper Cycle Systems Corporation

Hyper Cycle Systems Corporation

Hyper Cycle Systems Corporation, which began operations in April, 1999 to comply with the enactment of Japan's Home Appliance Recycling Law, is the foundry of a new, sustainable recycling industry, crafting the production technologies and systems for producing pure, industrial-grade materials from the metal and plastic materials reclaimed from old electrical appliances.

Plastic taken from end-of-lifecycle products by manual labor consists of about 6 % of all recycled plastics Hyper Cycle Systems deals with annually. The remainder includes metal and plastic fragments. Green Cycle Systems uses automated processes to separate the metals from so-called plastic excess.

diagram: Reclaiming Plastics and Refining Them into New Raw Materials

Supporting the Next Generation of Eco-Product Designers

Each year, Mitsubishi Electric organizes a program consisting of educational seminars at Hyper Cycle Systems whereby the present and future designers of electrical products can learn first-hand the issues related to designing for a sustainable future.

They spend time at the actual product disassembly and other production lines for hands-on experience, and attend seminars structured to instill in them the concept of "environment-compatible planning." The future of both recycling and better new-product manufacturing is literally in their hands.

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