Recycling sheets from S-Polytec and their advantages

Recycled plastic sheets, the cheap alternative to virgin material. All advantages and disadvantages at a glance.

What are recycled plastic sheets?

As the name suggests, recycled plastic sheets are plastic sheets made from plastic scraps and plastic waste. These sheets are referred to in technical jargon as regenerates.

In order to be able to recycle plastic scraps or plastic waste, they must first be separated by type. Different plastics usually do not get along with each other and segregate in the melt. This also leads to a rapid reduction in technical properties such as the modulus of elasticity. Plastic waste that has been collected by type is then finely ground and extruded into new plastic sheets. The quality of the sheets produced depends directly on the quality of the waste, or rather on the purity of the waste.

Advantages of recycled plastic sheets

The advantage of plastic sheets made from recycled material is the purchase price, as the price per kilo is on average about 40% lower than that of virgin material.

Disadvantages of recycled plastic sheets

There are a number of limitations to the use of recycled plastic sheet. The following are the criteria that do not allow the use of sheets as reclaimed material.

• High demands on surface finish
• High demands on colour and colour consistency
• Need for conformity such as RoHS, REACH or PAH
• Technical properties must be fulfilled

The above-mentioned points result in some restrictions for plastic sheets made from recycles. However, many applications can be served with this material. Covers without demands on appearance and technical properties, for example, as packaging, lining of mesh boxes, workpiece carriers and much more.

Colour of the regenerates

Plastic sheets as regenerates are mostly anthracite to black

Because the plastic waste and plastic scraps are available in different colours and the respective colours and colour quantities always vary with each individual batch, the recycled sheets are basically manufactured in colour gradations from anthracite to black. This is achieved by additionally pigmenting the panels with a carbon black content of about 2-4%. A guarantee for the colour or colour consistency is therefore not given by the manufacturer.

Rain rate surfaces

Recycled plastic sheets usually have a surface structure

It can never be 100% avoided that the plastic waste is collected absolutely sorted and thus foreign substances get into the material. With a smooth surface these become immediately visible, therefore the recycling sheets are rarely extruded with a smooth surface and in most cases manufactured with a grained surface. The second solution to this problem is the so-called co-extrusion of recycled material, where the plastic sheets are made with a carrier consisting of recycled material and a thin top layer of virgin material.

Recycled plastic sheets from S-Polytec

We always collect all waste and offcuts produced during the production of our plastic sheet blanks and milled parts, so that they can be used for the production of regenerates. In our online shop, we offer ABS plastic sheets or PE-UHMW (PE-1000) sheets made of recycled material with a smooth surface.

Departing from our standard delivery programme of our online shop, recycled plastic sheets made of polystyrene, polyethylene or polypropylene are also available on our website for freely configurable recycled sheets.

The minimum quantities for plastic sheets as reclaimed material differ considerably, depending on the plastics. For example, recycled polystyrene sheets can be supplied in small quantities of 200kg. In comparison, for polyethylene and polypropylene these are already at a minimum purchase of one tonne. In some cases, we also store recycled sheets in our warehouse, so that we can also deliver significantly smaller quantities on request.