Resource Recycling

Sharp and Kansai Recycling Systems Co., Ltd.*2 have joined forces to make effective use of resources and to improve recycling efficiency.

The motor of a washing machine uses copper windings. Separating and recovering materials like copper can boost the value of resources. Conventional equipment used a rotary blade to cut the copper winding, but the dust resulting from the cutting could potentially have an adverse effect on the operator’s health or the functioning of the machine. In addition, to prevent aluminum—an increasingly common winding material—from getting mixed with copper, aluminum windings were dismantled by hand in a separate process.

In fiscal 2022, we introduced a multi-axis robotic arm to automate the cutting/recovery process. The robot cuts and recovers the copper windings and aluminum windings from the motors, using a dedicated cutting device for each type of material. Switching to a dust-free cutting method has greatly improved the work environment. Using a single piece of machinery to separate copper and aluminum has reduced the processing time per motor by about 30%.

• *2  A consumer electronics recycling company established in Japan with joint investment from Sharp, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, and four other companies.

In 2007, Sharp’s American manufacturing and sales base SEC established MRM (Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company, LLC)*1 to manage recycling of AV products. Growing nationwide efforts have seen a total of 2,900 collection points established for used products. MRM operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of each state and recycled a total of 60,000 tons of used products in fiscal 2022.

The EU WEEE Directive*2 (2012/19/EU) stipulates that the manufacturer is responsible for collecting and recycling products shipped within the EU. Each Sharp European sales base collaborates with established recycling entities in the EU sales region to meet this requirement. Efforts are also made to reduce the volume of landfill waste by taking into account regulations governing packaging materials and batteries.

SBSUK, Sharp’s sales base in the UK, won a Greener Path Landfill Diversion Award for achieving zero final landfill disposal in fiscal 2022.

• *2 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive

In Vietnam, the introduction of a recycling law in 2017 has obliged manufacturers and importers to establish a collection scheme for products sold within the country. SVN, Sharp’s Vietnamese sales base, collects used products at collection points established in Vietnam and ensures they are processed appropriately by licensed recyclers for proper disposal.

In recycling materials, such as when end-of-life plastic is reused to make new products, the open-loop material recycling scheme is commonly adopted. It involves reusing recycled materials to make things like daily necessities and sundries. The majority of these are used only once and disposed of as municipal waste.

As opposed to this type of recycling, Sharp and Kansai Recycling Systems Co., Ltd.*1 jointly developed closed-loop plastic material recycling technology with a view to making better use of finite resources and reducing waste. This technology enables the repeated recovery of plastic from used consumer electronics products as well as the reuse of that plastic in parts of new consumer electronics products. The technology has been in practical use since fiscal 2001, when the Act on Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances (Home Appliance Recycling Act) was enacted in Japan.

Sharp has been striving to make more plastic recyclable through the development of new technologies. These include a technology for recovering high-purity polypropylene (PP) from mixed plastic parts and parts that contain metal; a technology for improving the properties of recovered PP/HIPS*2 and PC+ABS*3 materials so that their quality is on a par with that of virgin materials; a technology that gives materials added value by imparting properties such as flame retardancy, weather resistance, and an antibacterial property, with the aim of expanding applications for recycled plastic; and a quality-control technology for ensuring optimal quality. Thanks to the development and introduction of these technologies that integrate everything from recovery to quality control, Sharp has been able to establish closed-loop material recycling to produce high-grade recycled plastic.

In response to the increasing seriousness of pollution from used plastic, countries are enacting and enhancing various laws and regulations related to plastic recycling. There is a push to move away from the traditional linear economy, characterized by mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal, and towards a circular economy, characterized by limited input and consumption of new resources and minimal waste production. In Japan, as well, society’s attitude towards plastic usage has changed significantly, as evidenced by the enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics*. The Act focuses on resource recycling across the entire life cycle of plastic products, making it increasingly important that plastic materials are properly disposed of and recycled.

Against this background, Sharp is pursuing greater recycling of used plastics, not only through horizontal recycling, in which used plastics are made as good as new material and incorporated into the same parts as they were originally used, but also through upgrade recycling, in which the recycled plastic is given added value with flame retardancy, weather resistance, or high stiffness.

In fiscal 2022, Sharp developed mass-production technology for recycled flame-retardant polypropylene and used the material in the internal parts of ceramic fan heaters. Polypropylene recovered from used home appliances is given the physical properties, flame resistance, and long-term durability demanded in home appliances using Sharp’s own formulation technology.

Recycled flame-retardant polypropylene is difficult to make using conventional methods. This is because it requires mixing recovered polypropylene with a thermally decomposable flame retardant and multiple modifiers under high temperature. Sharp’s new formulation and optimized process have enabled the mass production of high-performance, high-quality recycled flame-retardant material. This recycled material can be used in place of metal in parts that require a high level of safety, such as those used around power switches and heat sources. The practical application of this recycled plastic material holds promise for lighter and cheaper products, while also curbing the generation of waste plastic.

Going forward, Sharp will develop recycled materials that use no environmentally harmful substances such as halogen compounds, thereby contributing to a circular economy.

The use of recycled plastic developed through Sharp’s own closed-loop material recycling technology was extended to refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and small appliances released in fiscal 2022. In fiscal 2022, the cumulative total amount used since 2001 reached 21,000 tons.

The volume of new water used by the Sharp Group in fiscal 2022 decreased by 6% compared to the previous fiscal year to 10.2 million m3. To minimize the effects on business continuity of the risk of water shortages, Sharp assesses water risk at its plants using the Aqueduct assessment tool developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI). SATL, Sharp’s production base in Thailand, is located in an area of highest risk. It is therefore reducing its use of new water by recycling water discharged from the production process and other sources. The Kameyama Plant (Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, Japan) and the Mie Plant (Taki District, Mie Prefecture, Japan) require a large amount of water in the production process for LCDs and other products. All of the water discharged from the production process is collected and reused via a closed-loop recycling system adopted at both plants. Through measures such as this, the Sharp Group is maintaining a recycling rate* of at least 60%. Looking ahead, Sharp will pursue further water-use efficiency worldwide and boost production efficiency in accordance with business expansion.

In fiscal 2022, there were no litigation issues, fines, or penalties due to violations of water-related laws and regulations. There were also no serious water-related accidents.