Honda has made a new breakthrough in its recycling technology, reducing costs and improving sustainability.
According to reports by Recycling Today, in Waco, Japan, Honda R&D Co. Ltd. has launched a new chemical sorting technology. With the updated system, Honda can sort through and separate reusable plastic components from car parts at a much faster and more efficient rate.
Before using the chemical sorting technology, Honda’s separation rate had not surpassed 80%, according to the company. However, now, the company can separate the plastic from the contaminants with an almost perfect rate.
“Reusable plastics extracted through the chemical sorting technology with a purity of more than 99 percent will be reused as automotive materials, enabling closed-loop recycling,” noted the company per Recycling Today.
Essentially, the new sorting technology breaks the plastic down into a liquid solution known as a solvent. This makes it much easier to sort and remove the solid contaminants from the reusable plastic.
One of the main benefits of Honda’s new technology is that it significantly reduces costs. Prior to the chemical sorting, the process had been done either by hand or machine, both of which were more time-consuming and costly.
“According to Honda, other benefits include reduction of capital investment through the reduction of steps in the sorting process, reduction of process cost by shortening the process, improvement of recycling yield and efficient recovery of high-quality plastics,” wrote Recycling Today.
Curbing plastic waste in any way is essential for reducing pollution and combating rising global temperatures. Each year, the world produces over 450 million tons of plastic waste, according to Our World in Data. That plastic waste takes hundreds of years to break down, and in the process of doing so, it leaches harmful microplastics into the soil and water bodies.
As a result, finding innovative solutions for reusing plastic components is crucial in reducing the total amount of plastic waste.
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