Japan – Honda Develops New “Chemical Sorting” Technology to Separate Solid Contaminants from Waste Plastics Derived from End-of-life Automobiles

Honda Develops New “Chemical Sorting” Innovation to Separate Solid Contaminants from Waste Plastics Derived from End-of-life Automobiles

-Working towards the awareness of resource blood circulation-

TOKYO, Japan, September 16, 2025 – (JCN Newswire)– Honda R&D Co., Ltd. (Honda) today revealed that it has actually established a brand-new “chemical sorting” innovation, which sorts and extracts recyclable plastics from waste plastic parts which contain strong impurities distinct to vehicle waste. Honda will construct a pilot center with an optimum processing capability of 350 loads each year and confirm the innovation by the end of 2026, aiming to put it into useful usage by around 2029.

The strong pollutant separation innovation freshly established by Honda utilizes chemical sorting, that liquifies the resin in a solvent to get rid of strong impurities and extract high-purity resin. Waste automobile plastic parts typically include non-plastic strong pollutants such as metal inserts * 1, pieces of rubber hose pipes and gaskets, and enhancing products such as glass fiber included in the resin. To date, recycling of waste plastic parts consisting of strong impurities has actually been done mainly through “physical sorting” procedures which arrange pollutants by hand or by maker. Recycling through physical sorting has different difficulties, consisting of a boost in expense associated with the arranging procedure.

Making use of the newly-developed chemical arranging innovation made it possible for Honda to enhance the strong pollutant separation rate to more than 99%, which formerly has actually not gone beyond the series of around 80%, leading to the extraction of high-purity plastics. After going through mechanical and chemical recycling procedures, recyclable plastics drawn out through the chemical arranging innovation with a pureness of more than 99%, will be recycled as vehicle products, allowing closed-loop recycling.

Concerns with standard recycling of waste plastic parts

-Limitations due to the size of pollutants

Standard separation technique needs the optimization of requirements of filters and arranging procedure for the size of each target pollutant. Waste plastic parts consist of strong pollutants of numerous sizes. Because the sizes of impurities are unforeseeable, the filter mesh needs to be set really great, which typically triggers obstructing and stops processing.

– Limitations due to the intricacy of products

Plastics utilized in automobile parts include several resins, ingredients, fillers, and connected elements, making it challenging to effectively separate them through the traditional technique.

– Difficulty in scaling up

When fine-mesh filters are utilized to figure out most impurities, the filters require to be changed every couple of hours due to obstructing. While recycling is practical at the research study level, it has actually been technically challenging to develop a constant procedure capable of stably processing big volumes of waste products.

– Lack of industrywide partnership

For useful recycling, an industrywide effort is important; nevertheless, adequate collective structures have yet to be developed.

What Honda accomplished with the brand-new innovation

By utilizing coarse-mesh filters that are less vulnerable to blocking to figure out millimeter-sized coarse impurities, and utilizing centrifuges to physically different micrometer-sized * 2 great impurities, the brand-new chemical arranging innovation established by Honda gets rid of the requirement to change the specs of elimination filters depending upon the size of each impurity, allowing the extensive elimination of impurities of all sizes. It likewise lessens the requirement for upkeep and filter replacement, making it possible for the facility of a constant procedure efficient in steady operation on a commercial scale.

With these functions of its brand-new innovation, Honda ended up being efficient in getting rid of pollutants of numerous sizes in the recycling of ELV-derived waste plastics, which broadens the series of recyclable parts. This makes it possible for Honda to accomplish both financial expediency and scalability, and understand useful application of its brand-new innovation. Based on the knowledge and technological structure Honda has actually generated through its long history of establishing resource healing innovations, the current development in partnership with external partners has actually supported the advancement of this brand-new innovation.

Advantages of the strong impurity separation innovation established by Honda

• Decrease of capital expense through the decrease of actions in the arranging procedure.
• Decrease of procedure expense through the reducing of the procedure.
• Enhancement of recycling yield * 3 (through the decrease of the quantity of resin eliminated together with impurities being eliminated in each arranging action).
• Effective healing of premium plastics that will adhere to quality requirements needed for the recycling procedures that follow, by avoiding metal and rubber contamination.
• Suppression of plastic deterioration by liquifying resin at temperature levels lower than the resin’s destruction point.
• Capability to release recycled resin in a strong state, which allows the healing of resin in pellet * 4 kind.
• Decrease of COâ ‚‚ emissions, as the innovation makes it possible for the recycling of strengthened fiber plastics that were formerly incinerated.

Resource flow has actually been among the essential focus locations for Honda to more advance its movement product or services, and this newly-developed innovation is anticipated to be appropriate likewise to other products, consisting of engineering plastics. Honda will continue its recycling-related research study and handle the difficulty to establish its items with 100% usage of sustainable products.

* 1 Components made from metals that are pre-embedded into molded parts such as plastic and rubber items.
* 2 1 micrometer=0.001 millimeter.
* 3 The ratio of an excellent item gotten to the quantity of basic material input. In this context, it describes the quantity of resin effectively recuperated divided by the quantity of waste product fed into the procedure.
* 4 Raw product utilized for plastic molding, usually in little granules of about 3– 5 millimeters in size.