Both the quantity of recycled plastics waste and of processed recyclates is continually increasing. However, there are still difficulties with the quality of the recycled plastics, which are impeding replacement of virgin material. In recent years, machinery manufacturers and plastics producers have introduced various further developments that improve the properties of recyclates as well as eliminate unpleasant odors and contaminants.

Plastics recycling is a laborious process. For the recycled material to have the necessary quality, it must first be sorted into the different plastics

Overcoming Difficulties in Plastics Recycling

Streifinger, Florian

Recycling

Umweltmanagement

Extruder

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Extrusionsanlagen

Trockner

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Waschen und Entfetten

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Trockner, Granulat-

Sortierer

Kunststoff-Recycling

Additive

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Inspektion, Analyse und Sortierung von Rohmaterial

QualitÃ¤tssicherung

QualitÃ¤tssicherung Kunststoff

The Long Road to a Circular Economy

The plastics industry has a variety of materials and technologies available for significantly reducing the ecological footprint of products. There are very few applications for which it is not possible to replace at least a portion of the fossil material with recyclates or bioplastics. Various methods, standards and software tools are available to determine what savings this can achieve.

Determining CO2 Savings from Recycled Materials and Bioplastics

Simulation

Software

Normen / Standards

Recht allgemein / sonst.

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Reducing the CO2 Footprint

Sorting plays a crucial role in the processing of plastic waste. Systems based on artificial intelligence are one way of improving this. Sorting systems manufacturer Tomra has recently presented corresponding technologies. Kunststoffe spoke about this with Felix Flemming and Valerio Sama from Tomra. In the interview, they explain what progress can be made with it, how important digitalization is for this and what improvements it means for food packaging.

16:9

Interview on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Waste Sorting

Deep Learning

Datenanalyse

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Kreislaufwirtschaft

“AI Has Great Potential for  Sorting Food Packaging”

Statutory recyclate quotas and the specifications of brand-name producers are weighing heavily on the packaging branch these days and turning recyclate availability into a hot issue. Some polymers are simply not available in sufficient amounts. Experts at the 31st Dresden Packaging Conference provided insights into the current situations and explained why the situation could worsen in the future.

Recyclates of many polymer types are hard to get right now.

Verpackungsmaterial

Logistik

Hard-to-Find Recylates

Over the last year, the German branch of the Association of Plastics Manufacturers, PlasticsEurope Deutschland, consistently advocated the technology of chemical recycling. Meanwhile, chemical recycling has not only been criticized by environmental organizations but also from parts of the industry. Kunststoffe interviewed Ingemar Bühler, CEO of the Association, about this criticism and the competition between mechanical and chemical recycling. In the interview, Bühler also addresses further requirements for a circular economy with plastics and explains why he considers a label for plastics products a sensible idea.

Interview with Ingemar Bühler from PlasticsEurope Deutschland

Schröder, Susanne

Verbände, Institutionen, Messen

Dienstleistungen

“There’s No Point in Arguing over Chemical versus Mechanical Recycling”

Texas-based Encina Announces $1.1 billion investment in new manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania.

Encina announced to invest USD 1.1 billion to build a new manufacturing facility in Point Township, Pennsylvania

Encina Announces USD 1.1 Billion Investment

The company’s new office will allow the company to more effectively service customers in the country’s western region.

 Michael Lambert (CFO, Vecoplan Group), Frank Boerjan (CEO, Vecoplan LLC), Werner Berens (CEO, Vecoplan Group) and the Mayor of Eastvale (l-r).

Vecoplan Opens New Location in California

Cannon Ergos is working with Boeing on moulding trials for the feasibility of using recycled carbon fiber for the fabrication of aircraft cabin interior sidewall panels.

Luftfahrt

Andere Werkstoffe

Faserverbundwerkstoffe

Cannon Ergos Collaborates with Boeing

Greenplast 2022: Reifenhäuser Blown Film shows recyclable All-PE film with digital product passport.

With EVO Ultra Fusion, fluff (film shreds) as well as all kinds of production waste and PCR material of the lowest quality can be processed into functional films for applications such as trash or mailing bags.

Blasfolienextrusion

Recyclable All-PE Film with Digital Product Passport

Full order books make for optimistic outlook, but there is also cause for concern.

At around 60 percent, the EU-27 countries remain the most important customer market for German waste and recycling technology.

VDMA: „Industry Is Well Positioned for 2022“

Heraeus Holding GmbH announced it has invested substantial equity to take a majority stake in perPETual Technologies, one of the world’s leading PET recycling companies.

Ambitious Target: To recycle 100 million used PET bottles per day by 2026.

Hereaus Joins PET Recycler

The aim of the forum was to furnish new tools and methods for the design, use, recycling and re-use of sustainable packaging. Over 400 participants and 46 speakers, including 20 from abroad attended the event.

Impression of the debut of Packaging Speaks Green in 2020.

Packaging Speaks Green

Balance sheet 2021/22: New growth in revenues with state-of-the-art recycling technologies

Manfred Hackl (CEO): „This past financial year, we again set several milestones.“

Erema: Large-Scale Plants Drive Growth

Electrical and electronics manufacturers want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their products and optimize waste management and recycling for them. This can be achieved, among other ways, by using more sustainable thermoplastics and quality-assured recyclates. A close cooperation between companies to establish material cycles and the recycling-friendly design of equipment are also important.

Driving Sustainability Trends in the Electrical and Electronics Industry with Polymers

Elektronik

Technische Kunststoffe

Thermoplaste

Polycarbonat

Support for a Greener E&E World

A growing number of companies and industrial sectors would like to use recyclates for their products. However, the application is frequently still confronted with considerable difficulties. And the extension of recycling to other fields and sectors also poses new questions. An overview of the current status and associated technical solutions was provided in conference “Forum Plastic Recyclates” at the end of March.

Conference Minutes of “Forum Plastic Recyclates”

Start into a Second Life for Plastics

KIT and Audi Launch Pilot Project for Chemical Recycling

Closed loop for plastics from the automotive industry: waste from engineering plastics is processed into pyrolysis oil that can be used for new components.

A large number of components in automobiles are made from plastics. They have to meet high safety, heat resistance, and quality requirements. That is why so far only petroleum-based materials have been suitable for manufacturing plastic components in cars that are subjected to extremely high wear. In most cases, such materials cannot be recycled. Whereas plastics of the same type can often be recycled mechanically, recycling of mixed plastic waste poses a major challenge. The Thinktank Industrial Resource Strategies of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Audi are therefore launching a pilot project for chemical recycling in order to feed such mixed plastic fractions back into a resource-conserving circular system.

“Recycling automotive plastics has not yet been possible for many components. That is why we are doing pioneering work here together with Audi,” says Professor Dieter Stapf, Head of KIT’s Institute for Technical Chemistry, who also is involved in the Thinktank. “If we want to close these loops, we need to develop suitable methods.” So far, chemical recycling has been the only method that can be used to convert such mixed plastic wastes into products, whose quality matches that of new products.

As a result, a wider range of plastics can be recovered, Stapf says. “Such closed material loops save valuable resources, because less primary material is required. This, in turn, saves energy and costs – and is beneficial to the environment,” says Dr. Rebekka Volk from KIT’s Institute for Industrial Production.

Pilot Project of the Thinktank Industrial Resource Strategies

The pilot project “Chemical Recycling of Plastics in Automotive Engineering” is conducted by the Thinktank Industrial Resource Strategies that has been established at KIT by the Baden-Württemberg State Government together with industry and the support of academia. “Responsible use of resources is the joint obligation of industry, science, and politics. The Thinktank pools all competencies to master this big challenge and to serve society and the environment,” says Professor Thomas Hirth, KIT Vice-President for Innovation and International Affairs and Spokesperson of the Thinktank.

“Chemical recycling can be a major component of comprehensive plastics recycling. This makes it an interesting proposition for the automotive industry. The Thinktank and Audi are jointly addressing a central issue of making automobiles more sustainable and environmentally friendly in future irrespective of their type of powertrain. The Thinktank is focused on a holistic view of raw material loops,” says Dr. Christian Kühne, Managing Director of the Thinktank.

Audi is among the first automotive manufacturers testing this recycling method in a pilot project with plastics from automotive engineering. “We want to establish smart circular systems in our supply chains and make efficient use of resources,” says Marco Philippi, Senior Director Procurement Strategy of Audi.

“Chemical recycling has a great potential for this: If plastic components can be produced from pyrolysis oil instead of petroleum, it would be possible to significantly increase the proportion of sustainably manufactured components in automobiles. In the long run, this method can also play a role in end-of-life vehicle recycling.”

Pyrolysis Process for More Sustainable Products

The “Chemical Recycling of Plastics in Automotive Engineering” pilot project targets the creation of smart circular systems for plastics and establishing this method as a complement to mechanical recycling and replacement of energetic recovery. Partnering with KIT’s Thinktank, Audi intends to initially test the technical feasibility of chemical recycling and to evaluate the method in terms of its economic efficiency and environmental impacts. For this purpose, the company provides plastic components that are no longer needed, such as fuel tanks, wheel trim parts, and radiator grills, from Audi models returning from the German dealership network, for example.

The plastic components are processed to pyrolysis oil by chemical recycling. In the medium run, components based on pyrolysis oil can be used in automobiles again. If technical feasibility will be demonstrated, Audi will industrialize the technology and progressively apply it to more and more components.

Research and technology development for sustainable circular economy are major topics at KIT. “We are systematically studying the potentials of pyrolysis and how pyrolysis processes have to be designed on a large scale for maximum recycling of resources,” Stapf says. Chemical recycling of plastic wastes can help make modern products more sustainable and prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

Audi AG  

KIT Karlsruher Institut für Technologie Inst. f. Mikrostrukturtechnik (IMT)

https://www.fzk.de

Pyrolysis oil from mixed wastes is to close the loop for plastics from automotive engineering

News KITAudi 16.12.2020

About the Thinktank Industrial Resource Strategies

The Thinktank Industrial Resources Strategies is a joint initiative of politics and industry with the support of science. It provides politics and industry with scientific advice on central technological and strategic aspects of resource efficiency, use of resources, and resource policy. The Thinktank compiles data and facts in an objective way, processes them understandably, and produces results that are recognized equally by politics and industry, thus contributing largely to fact-based decisions of all parties. The Thinktank was established on January 09, 2018 and is located at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Spokesperson of the Thinktank is Professor Thomas Hirth, KIT Vice-President for Innovation and International Affairs. Operative management of the Thinktank lies in the hands of Managing Director Dr. Christian Kühne. The Thinktank Industrial Resource Strategies is financed from funds of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Environment, Climate Protection, and the Energy Sector.

Virtual Event on Chemical Recycling

The virtual event “Highway or Holzweg – Chemisches Recycling von Kunststoffen“ on January 25, 2021, 18.00 hrs, at the Baden-Württemberg State Representation in Berlin will provide a platform to discuss opportunities and challenges of chemical recycling of plastics. The event will be organized by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Environment, Climate Protection, and the Energy Sector.

<a href="https://um.baden-wuerttemberg.de/en/home/ " target="_blank">um.baden-wuerttemberg.de</a>

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