Plastic part and recycling sorting method

Abstract

To reduce a cost of manufacturing a plastic part to which recycling information is attached.SOLUTION: In plastic parts 13 with recycling information 20 attached to them to determine whether they can be recycled after use, the recycling information is determined based on shipping inspection data used to determine whether or not the plastic part is acceptable for shipping during shipping inspection. According to this method, the recycling information can be obtained without carrying out a process separate from the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic parts, so that manufacturing costs can be reduced compared to conventional method.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a plastic part and a recycling sorting method. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Plastic parts that are provided with recycling information for determining whether or not they can be recycled after use are known.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses products such as television sets and indoor air conditioner units that include members (plastic parts) made of thermoplastic resin, in which recycling information is displayed to determine whether the members can be recycled after use. This recycling information is information evaluated based on the strength of the remolded product obtained when the members are recycled. Specifically, the strength of the member obtained by remolding the member is evaluated using a tensile test, a bending test, an Izod impact test, etc. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the past, in order to obtain recycling information, a process for evaluating the strength of the remolded product obtained by remolding the target part was required in addition to the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part to which the recycling information was attached. This process is added to the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part just to obtain the recycling information, which causes the problem of increasing the manufacturing cost of the plastic part. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a plastic part to which recycling information for determining whether or not the part can be recycled after use is attached, the recycling information being determined based on shipping inspection data used to determine whether or not the plastic part can be shipped during shipping inspection. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, manufacturing costs can be reduced compared to the conventional case in which a process separate from the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic parts had to be carried out in order to obtain recycling information attached to the plastic parts. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus, which is an example of a product in which a plastic part according to an embodiment is used. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which an exterior member, which is a plastic part used in the image forming apparatus, is removed. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart for explaining the process from manufacturing to recycling of the same plastic part. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a foreign object appears on the surface of the plastic part. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for measuring the part error of the plastic part. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a plastic part on which recycling information is displayed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a plastic part according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the plastic part according to the present invention will be described as a plastic part used in an image forming apparatus, but the present invention can also be applied to plastic parts used in any products other than image forming apparatuses. In particular, the present invention can be applied to plastic parts of products that require design and strength and can be marked with an engraving. Specific examples of products to which the plastic part according to the present invention can be applied include home appliances such as air conditioners and heaters, projectors, cameras, automobile parts, building materials such as outdoor decks, furniture such as tables, lenses for lighting, and water pipes.

[0009] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus, which is an example of a product in which a plastic part according to this embodiment is used. In the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, light is emitted from a light source 2a onto a document placed on a document reading table 1, and the reflected light is read by a light receiving unit 2b to obtain document information. Meanwhile, a sheet (recording material, recording medium) fed from any one of paper feed units 3a, 3b, and 3c is sent to a registration roller 4.

[0010] The optical writing unit 5 irradiates the photoconductor 6 with laser light in accordance with the document information acquired by the light receiving unit 2b to form a latent image. The latent image formed on the photoconductor 6 is developed by the developing unit 7, and the image is transferred by the transfer unit 8 to the paper fed from the registration rollers 4. The paper to which the image has been transferred is fed to the image fixing unit 9, where the image is fixed.

[0011] The paper on which the image has been fixed is sent to the discharged paper receiving section 19 or to the inverting device 11a. The paper sent to the inverting device 11a and inverted is sent to the inverting device 11b and then sent to the registration rollers 4 again, where an image is formed on the back side.

[0012] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which an exterior member, which is a plastic part used in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, has been removed. The exterior of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment is made up of exterior members 12-18 and exterior parts of paper storage units (paper feed trays) 19a and 19b, and is made from a resin material (plastic material). In addition, these parts are generally less susceptible to damage such as deformation, deterioration, and scraping due to their functions, and are often large in size. Therefore, these parts are suitable for reuse and recycling.

[0013] In this embodiment, plastic parts such as exterior members 12-18 of image forming apparatus 10 and exterior parts of paper storage units (paper feed trays) 19a and 19b are provided with recycling information for determining whether or not they can be recycled after use. The recycling information may be electronically stored in a storage medium such as an IC chip attached to the plastic parts, or a label indicating the recycling information may be attached to the plastic parts. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a recycling label 20 indicating the recycling information is attached to the plastic parts.

[0014] Conventional recycling information attached to plastic parts was obtained by remolding test pieces from the parts and performing tensile tests using special jigs, etc., and using the strength level obtained from the test results. This type of conventional recycling information requires an additional process (a process for carrying out various tests) in addition to the manufacturing and shipping process of the part, which increases the manufacturing cost of the part.

[0015] The recycling information attached to the plastic parts (exterior members 12-18, etc.) of the image forming apparatus 10 in this embodiment is determined based on shipping inspection data used to determine whether the plastic parts are acceptable for shipping in the shipping inspection. That is, in this embodiment, the shipping inspection data used in the shipping inspection, which is generally performed to evaluate the variation in parts during the manufacturing process and to detect manufacturing errors, is used to determine the recycling information for determining whether the parts can be recycled after use.

[0016] According to this, recycling information can be determined from the shipping inspection data used in the shipping inspection carried out during the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part. Therefore, recycling information can be obtained without carrying out a process (a process for carrying out various tests) separate from the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part, and manufacturing costs can be reduced compared to conventional methods.

[0017] Furthermore, because the shipping inspection data is obtained for each individual plastic part shipped, it is possible to obtain more accurate recycling information for each plastic part than data obtained from other parts of the same mold, such as so-called type inspection data.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the flow from the manufacture of plastic parts (exterior members 12 to 18, etc.) to their recycling. When manufacturing plastic parts for the image forming apparatus 10, first, molding material (pellets) for plastic injection molding is prepared (S1). In this preparation process, for example, new molding material and recovered recycled material are mixed to prepare the molding material (pellets). Then, in the part molding process, the prepared molding material is used to mold plastic parts (exterior members 12-18, etc.) in an injection molding machine (S2).

[0019] The plastic parts (exterior members 12 to 18, etc.) molded in this manner are sent to a shipping inspection process (S3). In the shipping inspection process, inspection is performed to ensure that the mass production quality of the plastic parts is being ensured. Shipping inspection is preferably a non-destructive inspection of the plastic parts being inspected (an inspection that does not damage the parts and does not impair shipping quality). With non-destructive inspection, the parts to be shipped themselves can be inspected, so there is less error in the inspection results, and there is no need to prepare additional evaluation parts or test pieces, which reduces inspection costs.

[0020] Specific examples of the shipping inspection include appearance inspection to check for impurities in the molding material and for appearance abnormalities due to temperature fluctuations during part molding. Appearance inspection, for example, checks color differences and the amount of foreign matter that appear on the appearance of the plastic part being inspected. Another example is mass production control dimensional measurement to measure dimensional abnormalities caused by shrinkage fluctuations after part molding due to the effects of molding condition adjustments and wear on the mold molding machine. Mass production control dimensional measurement, for example, checks whether the plastic part being inspected is molded to the specified dimensions.

[0021] Next, in this embodiment, a process for attaching recycling information to the plastic parts is carried out. However, as described above, the recycling information in this embodiment is determined based on the shipping inspection data used in the shipping inspection process of the plastic parts. Therefore, in this embodiment, a data acquisition process for determining the recycling information is not required separately from the shipping inspection process.

[0022] The shipping inspection data used to determine the recycling information in this embodiment includes data obtained in the above-mentioned appearance inspection and data obtained in mass production management dimensional measurement, and the possibility of recycling is determined based on this shipping inspection data (S4).

[0023] For example, regarding the color difference of the appearance of a plastic part, which is data obtained by visual inspection, plastic parts containing recycled materials (recycled plastic parts) may have burnt spots due to increased heat history or color shifts due to the mixing of recycled materials of different colors. In particular, transparent plastic parts and white plastic parts show noticeable differences in color. Therefore, parts that have a large difference in color from the original color (the color of a plastic part made only from new materials) are judged to have deteriorated materials and cannot be recycled.

[0024] A method for determining whether a plastic part can be recycled based on color difference data (shipping inspection data) is, for example, to set the color of a master sample made only from new materials as a standard and the color difference width that is the pass level (recyclable) as a judgment condition. If the plastic part being inspected is within the color difference width of the judgment condition, it is judged to be at the pass level (recyclable), and if it is outside the color difference width of the judgment condition, it is judged to be at the fail level (not recyclable).

[0025] The color coordinates in the L*a*b color system can be used as the color difference data. In detail, the distance ΔE between the color coordinates of the master sample and the color coordinates of the plastic part to be inspected can be calculated from the differences ΔL, Δa, and Δb in each direction between the two using the following formula (1), and this distance ΔE can be used as the color difference data used to determine whether or not the part can be recycled.

[0026]

number

[0027] The color difference data may be, for example, simple measurement data obtained by contacting a handheld color difference measuring device with the plastic part to be inspected.

[0028] Furthermore, with regard to the amount of foreign matter on the exterior of a plastic part, which is data obtained by visual inspection, in plastic parts containing recycled materials (recycled plastic parts), impurities that get mixed in during collection or other times may appear on the part surface as foreign matter F, as shown in Figure 4. The larger the size of the foreign matter F that appears on the part surface, or the greater the amount of foreign matter F, the more times the part has been recycled and the greater the amount of impurities that have been mixed in. Therefore, parts whose size or amount of foreign matter F that appears on the part surface exceeds the judgment criteria are judged to be non-recyclable.

[0029] As a method of judging whether or not the foreign matter F can be recycled based on the measurement data (shipping inspection data) of the size and amount of the foreign matter, for example, the size and number (density) of the foreign matter appearing on the surface of the plastic part to be inspected are counted, and the recyclability is judged according to a preset judgment condition (judgment criterion). The size and number (density) of the foreign matter can be counted, for example, by capturing an image of the part surface with a camera and measuring the size and number (density) of the foreign matter by processing the captured image data. Alternatively, a simple method may be used in which the size of the foreign matter is judged by comparing the foreign matter with a size judgment scale (such as a foreign matter measurement chart), or a scale of a specified area is prepared and placed against the part to count the number of foreign matters within that area.

[0030] Table 1 below is an example of a table summarizing the judgment conditions (judgment criteria) and judgment results regarding the size and amount of foreign matter F.

[0031] [Table 1]

[0032] In addition, regarding the dimensions of plastic parts, which are data obtained from the mass production management dimension measurement, plastic parts containing recycled materials (recycled plastic parts) may contain impurities during collection, or materials that are the same as new materials but have a different grade than the new materials. Therefore, plastic parts containing recycled materials and plastic parts made only of new materials have different shrinkage rates during molding, so if they are molded in the same mold, there will be differences in the dimensions of the molded parts. The greater the amount of impurities and other grades of materials mixed in, the greater the difference in the dimensions of the molded parts, so parts with differences in dimensions that exceed the judgment criteria are judged to be non-recyclable.

[0033] As a method for determining whether or not a part can be recycled based on measurement data of part dimensions (shipping inspection data), since the difference in shrinkage rate becomes more significant as the dimension becomes larger, it is effective to use measurement data for the overall part length (the length of the longest side of the part) L, for example, as shown in Figure 5. For this measurement, a measurement method that is often used as a method for evaluating part quality confirmation (molding variation) during mass production can be adopted, and it can be easily performed using a measuring jig such as a vernier caliper.

[0034] Then, based on the measurement data of the part dimensions, a judgment is made as to whether the part can be recycled or not according to a preset judgment condition (criteria). For example, a tolerance width is set as the judgment criterion for the overall length of the part to be measured as the judgment condition. If the plastic part to be inspected is within the tolerance width of the judgment condition, it is judged to be at a pass level (recyclable), and if it is outside the tolerance width of the judgment condition, it is judged to be at a fail level (not recyclable).

[0035] Once the recyclability is determined based on the shipping inspection data in this way, the next step is to attach a recycling information display 20 (S5). In this step, for example, a display 20 showing the result of the recycling ability determination step (S4) is attached to each plastic part by stamping or the like.

[0036] Any method may be used for the display of the indicia 20, so long as it can be applied after molding of the plastic part. For example, laser marking, silk screen printing, pad printing, decal attachment, and other methods may be used. Furthermore, if the indicia 20 cannot be applied to a location that is visible from the outside when mounted on a product due to aesthetic considerations, the indicia 20 may be applied to the plastic part with invisible ink that is difficult to see in the visible light range but becomes visible when exposed to black light (high-frequency ultraviolet light).

[0037] In this manner, the plastic parts (exterior members 12-18, etc.) bearing the recycling information mark 20 are sent to the assembly process for the image forming device 10, which is the product in which the plastic parts are mounted (S6), and the image forming device 10 is shipped. The shipped image forming device 10 is then used by a user (S7).

[0038] After use, the image forming apparatus 10 is collected and sent to a dismantling process (S8). In the dismantling process, a worker dismantles the image forming apparatus 10 after use and removes the plastic parts (exterior members 12-18, etc.). The worker then checks the recycling information indications 20 attached to the removed plastic parts (S9) and determines whether recycling is possible based on the recycling information (S10).

[0039] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a plastic part (exterior member 13) to which a display 20 of recycling information is attached. In this embodiment, in checking the display of the recycling information (S9), an operator (human) judges whether the plastic part can be recycled. In this case, it is preferable that the display 20 of the recycling information is a display that allows a human to immediately judge whether the plastic part can be recycled.

[0040] For example, in the recyclability determination step (S4), a plastic part that is determined to be recyclable is marked with a text mark 21 saying "recyclable" as shown in FIG. 6. A plastic part that is determined to be inrecyclable is marked with a text mark 21 saying, for example, "not recyclable." The mark that a human can immediately determine is not limited to such text mark 21, and may be, for example, a symbolic mark such as "o" indicating recyclable and "x" indicating not recyclable. Also, for example, a symbolic mark such as a blue mark indicating recyclable and a red mark indicating not recyclable may be used.

[0041] Furthermore, the recycling information attached to the plastic parts is not limited to being attached as a display that can be recognized by humans. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the information may be attached to the plastic parts by a machine-readable encoded code image 22. As such a code image 22, a one-dimensional code image such as a barcode or a two-dimensional code image may be used. The recycling information may be attached to the plastic parts by being stored in a storage medium (such as an IC chip) provided in the plastic parts. In this way, when the recycling information is attached to the plastic parts in a machine-readable format, it is suitable for automating the recyclable plastic parts by machine reading.

[0042] The recyclability information showing the result of the recyclability determination step (S4) is not limited to two options, "recyclable" indicating recyclability and "not recyclable" indicating non-recyclability, but may be three or more options. For example, in addition to "recyclable" and "not recyclable", a third option, "determined at the time of recycling", may be added. In this case, for plastic parts with recycling information of "determined at the time of recycling", when determining whether or not recyclability is determined (S10), whether or not recyclability is determined is determined according to the new recycling determination criteria at that time.

[0043] Table 2 below is another example of Table 1, and is a table summarizing the judgment conditions (judgment criteria) and judgment results regarding the size and amount of foreign matter F.

[0044] [Table 2]

[0045] In the example shown in Table 2, foreign matter F is divided into five categories according to the judgment conditions (judgment criteria) for the size and amount, and five types of character markings A to E corresponding to each category are attached to the plastic part as recycling information. In this case, character markings A and B correspond to the judgment result of "not recyclable", character marking C corresponds to the judgment result of "judgment at the time of recycling", and character markings D and E correspond to the judgment result of "recyclable". Note that the five types of character markings A to E may be replaced by, for example, symbolic marks such as "O, □, △, ▽, ×" or color marks such as "blue, red, yellow, green, brown".

[0046] In addition, the recycling information attached to the plastic parts may include not only the judgment result in the judgment of recyclability (S4) but also the shipping inspection data used for the judgment or data generated from the shipping inspection data (such as data indicating the quality level). If such data is attached to the plastic parts as recycling information, it becomes possible to judge whether or not the plastic parts can be recycled (S10) according to the new judgment criteria when the judgment criteria change after the time of shipping of the plastic parts (the time of judgment of recyclability (S4)). Depending on the product in which the plastic parts are installed, many of them are sent to recycling processing after a period of more than five years has passed since shipping, and it is quite conceivable that recycling technology will progress during that period and the range of recyclable quality levels will expand. Therefore, it is beneficial to reduce the scrapping rate of parts by attaching the shipping inspection data used for the judgment of recyclability (S4) to the plastic parts as recycling information so that the judgment of recyclability (S10) can be made according to the latest judgment criteria in the future.

[0047] Therefore, in this embodiment, the recycling information attached to the plastic part includes the shipping inspection data used to determine whether or not the plastic part can be recycled (S4). Specifically, as shown in Fig. 6, a code image 22 indicating the shipping inspection data (for example, surface color difference data, surface foreign matter amount data, and dimensional data of the plastic part) is attached to the plastic part. By reading the code image 22 with a code reader, the shipping inspection data for determining whether or not the plastic part can be recycled can be obtained, so that it becomes easy to determine whether or not the plastic part can be recycled according to new criteria when determining whether or not the plastic part can be recycled (S10).

[0048] In particular, in this embodiment, in addition to the recycling information of "recyclable" and "not recyclable", recycling information of "determined at the time of recycling" is also prepared and can be attached to plastic parts as character indication 21. This makes it possible to read the code image 22 using a code reader only for plastic parts with the indication 21 of "determined at the time of recycling" and determine whether or not they can be recycled according to new criteria. This makes the work easier than reading the code images 22 of all plastic parts to determine whether or not they can be recycled.

[0049] In the determination of recyclability (S10), plastic parts that are determined to be recyclable (Yes in S10) are collected (S11) and sent for recycling processing (S12). In the recycling processing, the collected plastic parts are crushed, washed, and re-pelletized, and are processed for reuse as molding material (pellets) for plastic parts, and are reused as molding material (pellets) for plastic parts.

[0050] On the other hand, for plastic parts that are determined to be incompatible with recycling (No in S10), the shipping inspection data is then read (S13). Specifically, the code image 22 attached to the plastic part is read by a code reading device to obtain shipping inspection data for determining whether the plastic part can be recycled. Then, based on the obtained shipping inspection data, the recyclability of the plastic part is re-determined according to the latest judgment criteria at the current time (S14). Note that this step can be omitted if there have been no changes to the judgment criteria between the time the plastic part was shipped and the current time.

[0051] In the re-determination of recyclability (S10), plastic parts that are determined to be recyclable (Yes in S14) are collected (S11), sent to a recycling process (S12), and reused as molding material (pellets) for plastic parts. On the other hand, plastic parts that are determined not to be recyclable (No in S14) are discarded (S15).

[0052] As described above, according to this embodiment, the determination of whether or not plastic parts can be recycled (S4) uses the shipping inspection data performed to check the mass production quality when the parts are produced, so no additional evaluation man-hours are required for determining whether or not the parts can be recycled. Moreover, in this embodiment, the shipping inspection data used to determine whether or not the parts can be recycled is non-destructive inspection data obtained by non-destructive inspection of color difference, foreign matter amount, and mass production control dimensions, so no specific test piece or jig is required, and therefore the number of measurement man-hours is small, and costs can be kept to a minimum.

[0053] The above description is merely an example, and each of the following aspects provides unique effects. [First aspect] The first aspect is a plastic part (e.g., exterior parts 12-18) that is provided with recycling information for determining whether or not the plastic part can be recycled after use, and the recycling information is determined based on shipping inspection data that is used to determine whether or not the plastic part can be shipped during shipping inspection. In this embodiment, the recycling information attached to the plastic part is determined based on the shipping inspection data used to determine whether the plastic part is shipped during the shipping inspection. This allows the recycling information of the plastic part to be determined from the shipping inspection data used in the shipping inspection carried out during the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part. Therefore, the recycling information can be obtained without carrying out a process other than the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part (such as a process of carrying out various tests for the sole purpose of determining the recycling information), so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced compared to the conventional method.

[0054] [Second aspect] A second aspect is the first aspect, characterized in that the shipping inspection data is non-destructive inspection data of the plastic part. This allows for the acquisition of shipping inspection data from inspection of each individual plastic part being shipped, resulting in fewer errors in the inspection results and reducing the need to prepare additional evaluation parts or test pieces, thereby reducing inspection costs.

[0055] [Third aspect] A third aspect is the second aspect, characterized in that the shipping inspection data is at least one of surface color difference data, surface foreign matter amount data, and dimensional data of the plastic part. According to such shipping inspection data, recycling information for the plastic parts can be determined with high accuracy.

[0056] [Fourth aspect] A fourth aspect is any one of the first to third aspects, characterized in that the recycling information includes the shipping inspection data. According to this, if the recycling criteria change after the shipment of the plastic part, it becomes possible to judge whether the plastic part can be recycled or not according to the new criteria using the shipping inspection data included in the recycling information attached to the plastic part. This makes it easier to judge whether the plastic part can be recycled or not according to the new criteria, and helps reduce the scrapping rate of parts.

[0057] [Fifth aspect] A fifth aspect is any one of the first to fourth aspects, characterized in that a mark showing the recycling information is affixed to the plastic part. This makes it possible to quickly grasp recycling information from the labels attached to plastic parts, facilitating the task of selecting recyclable plastic parts.

[0058] [Sixth aspect] The sixth aspect is the fifth aspect, characterized in that the marking is a recyclable marking indicating that the plastic part can be recycled after the end of its use, or a non-recyclable marking indicating that the plastic part cannot be recycled. This makes it possible to immediately determine whether the plastic part is recyclable or not, thereby speeding up the process of selecting recyclable plastic parts.

[0059] [Seventh aspect] A seventh aspect is the fifth or sixth aspect, characterized in that the indication is a code image (for example, the code image 22) that encodes the recycling information. This makes it easier to obtain recycling information through machine reading, making it suitable for automating at least part of the work of selecting recyclable plastic parts.

[0060] [Eighth aspect] The eighth aspect is a recycling sorting method for sorting plastic parts that have recycling information attached to them for determining whether they can be recycled after use, based on the recycling information attached to the plastic parts, characterized in that the recycling information is determined based on shipping inspection data used to determine whether the plastic parts can be shipped during shipping inspection. According to this, it is possible to determine whether or not a plastic part can be recycled based on recycling information determined from shipping inspection data used in shipping inspections carried out during the manufacturing and shipping process of the plastic part, and to select recyclable plastic parts. This makes it possible to achieve sorting at a lower cost than before.

[0061] [Ninth aspect] The ninth aspect is characterized in that, in the eighth aspect, the recycling information includes recyclable information indicating that the plastic part can be recycled after use has ended, or non-recyclable information indicating that the plastic part cannot be recycled, and the shipping inspection data, and if the recycling information attached to the plastic part does not include recyclable information, the plastic part is sorted based on the shipping inspection data included in the recycling information. According to this, if the recycling criteria change after the shipment of the plastic part, it becomes possible to judge whether the plastic part can be recycled or not according to the new criteria using the shipping inspection data included in the recycling information attached to the plastic part. This makes it easier to judge whether the plastic part can be recycled or not according to the new criteria, and reduces the scrapping rate of parts. In particular, only when the recycling information attached to the plastic part does not include recyclable information, the plastic part is selected based on the shipping inspection data included in the recycling information, making the sorting work easier. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 10: Image forming device 12~18: Exterior materials 20:Recycling display 21:Character display 22: Code image F: Foreign matter [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0063] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-122668 A

Claims

1. A plastic part that has recycling information attached to it to determine whether it can be recycled after use, A plastic part, wherein the recycling information is determined based on shipping inspection data used to determine whether or not the plastic part is acceptable for shipping during shipping inspection.

2. 2. The plastic part according to claim 1, The plastic part, wherein the shipping inspection data is non-destructive inspection data of the plastic part.

3. The plastic part according to claim 2, A plastic part, wherein the shipping inspection data is at least one of surface color difference data, surface foreign matter amount data, and dimensional data of the plastic part.

4. The plastic part according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The plastic part, wherein the recycling information includes the shipping inspection data.

5. The plastic part according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A plastic part, characterized in that a mark showing the recycling information is affixed to the plastic part.

6. The plastic part according to claim 5, The plastic part is characterized in that the marking is a recyclable marking indicating that the plastic part can be recycled after completion of use, or a non-recyclable marking indicating that the plastic part cannot be recycled.

7. The plastic part according to claim 5, The plastic part, wherein the indication is a code image in which the recycling information is encoded.

8. A recycling sorting method for sorting plastic parts having recycling information attached thereto for determining whether or not the plastic parts can be recycled after use, based on the recycling information attached to the plastic parts, comprising: A recycling sorting method, characterized in that the recycling information is determined based on shipping inspection data used to determine whether or not the plastic parts are acceptable for shipping during shipping inspection.

9. The recycling sorting method according to claim 8, The recycling information includes recycling possible information indicating that the plastic part can be recycled after the end of its use, or non-recycling information indicating that the plastic part cannot be recycled, and the shipping inspection data, A recycling sorting method comprising the steps of: when the recycling information attached to a plastic part does not include information on recyclability, sorting the plastic part based on the shipping inspection data included in the recycling information.

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