Characterization of virgin and postconsumer blended high-impact polystyrene resins for injection molding

This article focuses on the mechanical and rheological properties of virgin and recycled high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) materials and describes our progress in evaluating the viability of reusing postconsumer and virgin polymer blends of HIPS from electronics equipment housings. Plastics reuse challenges are briefly reviewed, and experimental results, such as the rheological properties, mechanical properties, molecular weight, and morphology of different blends, are summarized and discussed for reuse of HIPS from printer and monitor housings. It is found that all blends have similar molecular weight and polydispersity. Furthermore, the recycled resin and virgin resin consist of almost the same components. However, the morphology of the rubber phases is different. The mechanical properties are similar for the ASTM specimens molded with either set of blends. (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Inc.