The recycled polyolefinic product from discarded standard car bumpers collected from Rio de Janeiro suburb shops was characterized by mechanical and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) methods. We found that the recycled plastic mixture is composed mainly of polypropylene (PP), containing ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) terpolymers and a minor proportion of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and is highly resistant to impact. The results were compared with the corresponding data obtained from binary and ternary blends of virgin PP, EPDM, and HDPE. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.