Yazaki Corporation and Toray Industries have jointly developed a recycled polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resin grade which uses scrap materials from manufacturing processes to make connectors for automotive wire harnesses.
This resin can lower connector production derived carbon dioxide emissions while offering the same performance properties as virgin materials, the two companies claimed.
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Toray offers Ecouse Toraycon, a chemically recycled PBT resin made by depolymerising and repolymerising scrap from manufacturing processes.
The downsides of recycling resins include contamination from foreign substances and degraded material quality. Through chemical recycling, the company provides recycled PBT resin claimed to match the quality of virgin material. This process includes rigorous quality control from depolymerisation to compounding.
One challenge for Yazaki has been to stabilise the quality of recycled materials in highly functional parts, such as the automotive wire harness connectors. It addressed this by optimising the material properties and mouldability of the chemically recycled PBT resin. It collaborated with Toray to develop a recycled PBT resin grade for connectors that matches the quality stability of existing PBT resin grades.
