SEATTLE -- September 21, 2005 - The European Union has passed new legislation on recycling says research analysts Frost & Sullivan. The legislation will drive a gradual narrowing of the plastics used in electrical and electronics equipment (EEE) products.

A new EU directive, which went into effect on August 13th of this year, requires EEE producers to finance the end-of-life recycling and recovery costs of all their products. According to Frost & Sullivan this means that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were likely to introduce design changes to save costs, and plastics producers would have to adapt to these changes.

"A wider range of plastics makes the recycling process difficult and expensive due to the separation involved prior to the shredding of material," the analysts said. "Hence, a gradual narrowing of the plastics used and a possible standardization of grades is predicted in the long term, once collection and recycling have started."

“The variable recyclability of different plastics will also become a determining factor when OEMs choose the plastics to be used in EEE products,” said Frost & Sullivan analyst Lucia Castro Diaz. “Plastics that are easier to recycle will command better value, thus monomaterial (unfilled) plastics or unblended and crystalline polymers will be favored.”

Plastics such as polypropylene (PP) most likely will be used in more applications because it is easily modified to cover a wider property range. Colored plastics that do not require paint or finishing coatings will also become more popular, as removal of coatings is time-consuming and an additional cost.

It is likely plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which are not easily recyclable, will progressively lose value, Frost & Sullivan said.