Sony Corp. to roll out sale of recycled plastic from October

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): Electronics major, Sony Corp. has announced that it plans to sell its special recycled plastic-SoRPlas in open market. The product was until now used for in-house applications. The flame-retardant recycled plastic known as Sustainable Oriented Recycled Plastic (SoRPlast) will now be sold to manufacturers in Japan and other countries.

SoRPlast is made of plastic scrap from manufacturing optical discs and optical sheets of television. The scrap from these materials are crushed, washed and converted to recycled plastic product for reuse. It contains 99% recycled content and the balance 1% comprised of small amounts of additives such as flame retardants and colorants.

SoRPlas is treated with a new flame retardant we developed in-house. Its flame resistance derives partly from the CO₂ it generates if it does catch fire. Burning also creates tiny holes that help prevent heat from spreading. At the same time, a thin layer of carbon forms, which deprives the fire of oxygen. According to the company, this additional process is necessarily required to ensure flame resistance of consumer electronic products.

By offering different grades of its recycled plastic, Sony intends to promote recycling of essential resources. The products reduce carbon emissions drastically, thereby reducing the environmental impact. SoRPlast will be sold at competitive prices beginning October 1, 2014, the company added.