Yazaki and Toray develop recycled PBT resin grade for automotive wiring harness connectors

Yazaki Corporation and Toray Industries have jointly developed a recycled polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resin grade that uses scrap materials from the manufacturing process to create automotive wiring harness connectors.

This resin reduces the CO2 emissions generated during connector production while delivering the same performance characteristics as the original material.

Toray offers Ecouse Toraycon, a chemically recycled PBT resin made by depolymerizing and repolymerizing waste from the manufacturing process. Disadvantages of recycling resin include foreign material contamination and reduced material quality. Through chemical recycling, the company provides recycled PBT resin that matches the quality of the original material. The process includes strict quality control from depolymerization to compounding.

One challenge Yazaki faces is stabilizing the quality of recycled materials in highly functional parts such as automotive wiring harness connectors. The company solves this problem by optimizing the material properties and formability of Toray Chemical's recycled PBT resin. Yazaki has collaborated with Toray to develop a recycled PBT resin grade for connectors that matches the quality consistency of existing PBT resin grades.

Through this joint effort, Yazaki and Toray will contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral, circular economy for the automotive industry.