Abstract: To estimate recycling performance for the material selection schemes of complex products and provide quantitative guidance for green material selection, material recycling model of complex products and its application are studied. Principles and processes of green material selection for complex products are discussed and the relationship between material selection and recycling process is analyzed. A polychromatic graph model of product material composition is constructed based on polychromatic theory and then the process to select material and generate the corresponding recycling strategy is carried out. Compatibility of materials is analyzed through which the way of material recycling is determined and then the recycling strategy can be formulated considering the product structure. The costs of the recycling strategy are calculated and the recycling economic benefits can be estimated. Eco-Indicator’99 method is used to calculate the environmental benefits of recycling then the efficiency of the recycling strategy can be got. The algorithm for material selection based on polychromatic graph is given and with the example of material selection for car door welding fixture this method is proved practical.

Key words: Green material selection, Material recycling, Polychromatic theory