Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Plastic Recycling
Plastic Recycling
3184/003685007X228748
Plastic recycling
VANNESSA GOODSHIP
ABSTRACT
This review covers the options for recycling of plastic waste and provides a
general overview of the main issues associated with plastic disposal. It
provides a summary of the quantities and type of plastics in the waste
stream and also the main effects of recycling on the plastic material itself.
The four types of recycling: primary, secondary, tertiary and quarternary,
the requirements each places on the feed stock, and the uses of each are
given.
www.scilet.com 245
1. Introduction
Historically recycling in the plastic industry was carried out within
manufacturing companies as part of the standard production
process. In extrusion for instance, often where material and
contamination constraints allowed, in-house scrap would be re-
processed with virgin material, to improve final material produc-
tion yields. Plastic waste both commercial and post consumer going
to landfill.
Therefore, it is only relatively late in the development of the
plastic industry that focus and public perception has shifted
towards the problems of plastic waste. This has been driven by
two factors; a growing concern about the costs, both financial and
environmentally of land filling, and the sheer amount of plastic
waste finding its way into that waste stream.
This overview will provide a general introduction to the issues
affecting plastics recycling materials from end of life to disposal
and overview the main methods in landfill avoidance associated
with plastic waste.
Other
3%
Agriculture
7% Packaging
35%
Transport
8%
Furniture/housewares
8%
Electrical and
electronics
8% Building and
construction
23%
3. Plastic materials
In order to understand how best to recycle a plastic material it is
necessary to know what the material is and how it is likely to
behave. Plastics are made up of polymers and additives. The
percentage of a polymer contained within a plastic material can
vary widely from virtually 100% to less than 20% and depends on
the application for which it is intended. In the USA alone over
18,000 different grades of polymer based materials are available.
For the purposes of discussing recycling, these plastics can be
subdivided into two main categories: thermoplastics and thermo-
sets. This distinction relates to the basic molecular structure and
affects which processing route as well as which recycling route can
be applied. A plastic in first use is termed a virgin material.
Common thermoplastics and their uses are shown in Table 1.
When heated they melt and flow and when cooled they solidify.
This process of heating and cooling can be repeated many times
and therefore to reprocess a thermoplastic material is it necessary
to re-melt them. HDPE, LDPE, PP and PS materials are used in
vast quantities to make many consumer items such as lids, carrier
bags and fast food packaging. PET is used for carbonated drinks
bottles. PVC is used to make flooring, shoes and bottles.
Thermosets whilst initially processed by melting in a similar
manner to thermoplastics cannot be re-melted and will decompose
rather than melt. This is because they are chemically cross linked
during a process called curing. This produces a highly dense
chemical structure which imparts stiffness and brittleness.
Examples of thermosets are epoxy resins (adhesives, electrical
insulation), melamine-formaldehyde resin (heat resistant laminate
surfaces such as kitchen worktops) and phenolics (heat resistant
handles for pans, toasters, irons).
Since thermosets cannot be recycled by re-melting they are much
more difficult to re-process. However they also tend to have longer
service lives (10 years þ ) and are used in smaller quantities to
thermoplastic materials. Much research has been done looking for
ways to dispose of thermoset materials, a number of which will be
discussed later in this paper.
It was stated earlier that plastics are made up of polymer and
additives, before we move on to a more in depth look at recycling it
is necessary to briefly discuss additives and their affect on this
Additive Purpose
7. Recycling techniques
A material can be considered reclaimable when both a technology
for waste treatment and a market for the products are available6.
Despite increasing research effort to find technical solutions, it is
not yet economical to separate the wide variety of plastic that end
up in the waste stream. The ideal solution would be single plastic
waste streams, which present little technical effort in order to
recycle. However a typical household waste stream may contain a
variety of plastics in the form of packaging, carrier bags, bottles,
plastic lids, and food and household containers. Not only are these
plastics mixed they are also contaminated with items such as food
waste, residues, labels and glue. Plastics may be mixed with other
materials such as aluminium linings or metal closures.
One easy solution is for them to be sorted at source by the
householder and a number of local councils in the UK (alas the
authors own council is not yet one of them!) collect plastic bottles
which have been washed and dried and separated by the house-
holder. At present only PET, HDPE and PVC bottles, tubs and
pots are regularly collected and recycled from consumers in the
UK. What you are able to recycle in curb side schemes at the
moment unfortunately depends where in the UK you live.
However, specialist recycling companies will collect other types of
plastic from businesses, usually in bulk.
The plastics in a household waste stream should each be
individually marked with an identification code such as shown in
Figure 3. This was developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry
in America and is used throughout Europe. The number relates to
the type of plastic as shown in Table 3.
The largest fraction of the various plastics in household waste is
made up of polyethylene (PE) which makes up about 55%. This
includes LDPE and HDPE and a less common material called
LLDPE. Polypropylene is the second largest at 15%. 7% of waste
is made up of ‘other’ plastics. These are designated with the symbol
number 7.
It has been shown that mixed plastics are not compatible with
each other chemically. Another important factor when remelting
them is the differing temperatures required to melt and process
them. One plastic may melt while another is still solid. Again this
can seriously affect the properties of the final component.
For example PET melts at 245 C whereas PE needs only 135 C.
In fact at 245 C, it is likely PE will start to degrade. Whereas at
Polypropylene PP 5
Polystyrene PS 6
Other 7
PP 170 0.90
Washing
Processing and
production of
new product
Sorting
Homogeneous
Agglomeration waste streams
Process and
inhouse scrap Energy
recovery
——————
*There are various types of materials termed nylons, designated by a number
i.e. nylon 6, 10, 12, 66 related to different chemical structures. These materials
are also termed polyamides.
9.2.1 Pyrolysis
9.2.2 Hydrogenation
9.2.3 Gasification
10. Conclusion
For the most effective disposal method for plastics recycling it is
necessary to consider a number of factors. The most important of
these is the composition of the waste. If this is known then the
viability for mechanical recycling can be easily ascertained. If
mechanical recycling is not possible, then chemical recycling and
finally energy recovery both present viable alternatives to offset the
usage of oil reserves in the creation of the plastic material. However
the best way of waste disposal will always ultimately remain one of
waste minimization through best practice by both manufacturers
and the general public ensuring maximum environmental benefit.
11. Outlook
World wide, the prospects for improved rates of recycling look
good. Brazil has seen a surge in mechanical recycling rates
comparable to Europe and balances are being found between
collecting high value materials for mechanical recycling, whilst
accepting this will not always be the only viable option. Energy
from waste schemes and mechanical recycling are likely to go hand
in hand in plastic waste disposal routes in the near future.
Similarly new infrastructures are being established to future
enable recycling activities on a broader scale. The first HDPE
milk bottles recovered from the same (closed loop) waste stream
References
1. Plastic Business Data and Charts, Verband Kunststofferzeugende Indus-
trie e. V. (VKE), Germany. published 16.04.2004 (downloadable from
http://vke.de)
2. Meech, C. G. (2006) Science Progress, 89 (1), 1 – 59.
3. Zweifel, H. (2001) Plastics Additives Handbook, Fifth Edition, Carl
Hanser Verlag, Germany.
4. Michaeli, M. (1995) Plastics Processing: An Introduction, Carl Hanser-
Verlag, Germany.
5. La Mantia, F. P. (1997) Role of Additives in the Recycling of Polymers,
IUPAC, 38th Microsymposium on Recycling of Polymers, Prague, July
1997.
6. Brandrup, J., Bittner, M., Menges, G. and Michaeli, W. (1996) Recycling
and Recovery of plastics, Carl Hanser Verlag, Germany.
7. Pascoe, R. D. (2000) Sorting of Waste Plastic for Recycling, Rapra Review
Reports, 11, 4.
8. Rauwendaal, C. (1994) Polymer Extrusion, 3rd Edition, Carl Hanser
Verlag, Germany.
9. ASTM D5033-00, (2000) Standard Guide for Development of ASTM
Standards Relating to Recyling and Use of Recycled Plastics, 2000.
10. BASF AG, (1996) Plastics Recycling-Activities of BASF, Technical
Information for Experts, Ludwigshafen, 1996, pp. 6, 7/3/97 Nr 08/96 e.
11. BASF AG, (1996) Plastics Recycling-Activities of BASF, Technical
Information for Experts, Ludwigshafen, 1996, pp. 6, 7/3/97 Nr 08/96 e.
12. Ehrig, R. J. (1992) Plastics Recycling: Products and Processes, Carl Hanser
Verlag, Germany.