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

Recycling

Umweltmanagement

Normen / Standards

Recht allgemein / sonst.

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Reducing the CO2 Footprint

Henkel significantly expands partnership with social enterprise Plastic Bank. The partners opened their first three plastic waste collection centers in Cairo

Henkel and Plastic Bank opened the first three collection centers in Cairo

16:9

Polyethylen

Thermoplaste

Polyethylenterephthalat

Kunststoffhandel

Dienstleistungen

Handel

Henkel and Plastic Bank Open First Collection Centers in Egypt

A new chemical recycling unit at Borealis production site in Stenungsund, Sweden, is expected to commence operations in 2024.

Aerial view of Borealis production location in Stenungsund, Sweden

More Circular Base Chemicals and Plastic Products

From April 13 – 16, 2021 Hanser launches international virtual trade fair D-Expo Circular Economy for professionals with a focus on sustainability, recycling, eco-design, life-cycle, and more.

D-EXPO Circular Economy will take place as a digital event from April 13 to 16, 2021

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Nachhaltigkeit

Regenerieren

Kunststoff-Regenerate

Digital Trade Fair for Plastics Sustainability

LyondellBasell starts commercial production of polymers using raw material derived from plastic waste at its Wesseling site.

The chemical company starts commercial production of polymers using raw material derived from plastic waste at Wesseling

Polymers Made from Plastic Waste

Initial testing of the material at the Ineos Styrolution laboratory did not show any measurable differences to native material.

EU life project ABSolutely Circular: Indaver and Ineos Styrolution announced production of first ABS with recycled styrene

Kreislaufwirtschaft

ABS with Recycled Styrene

The circular economy, electromobility and the continuing corona pandemic are influencing color selection for plastics. Kunststoffe asked colorant manufacturers about the resulting color trends. We also wanted to know what effects the increased use of recyclates is having and the extent to which manufacturers are affected by the present supply bottlenecks.

Trend Report on the Coloration of Plastics

Masterbatches

Additive

Farbstoffe und Pigmente

Streifinger, Florian

Farbkonzentrate (Batches)

Farbstoffe

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

Farben, flüssig

Colored Mood Enhancers

The development of a functioning and efficient recycling economy is strongly dependent on the quality of the recycled plastics. New plant and process technology is promoting this development.

For a functioning circular economy, plastics must not only be extracted from post-consumer waste streams, but the recyclates obtained must also be of consistent quality

Sortierer

KU-Verarbeitungsmaschinen allgemein

Kunststoffverarbeitungsmaschinen

Advances in Plastics Recycling Processes Towards the Creation of a Circular Economy

For a long time, chemical recycling was considered an unfinished addition to established material processes. In the meantime, however, some technologies are making the leap into large-scale industrial use: an overview of the various processes and providers.

Overview of the Various Processes and Suppliers

Polypropylen

Polyurethan

What Is Happening in Chemical Recycling?

Biodegradable plastics are special polymers designed to biodegrade after use. But conventional granulation equipment cannot handle biodegradable production rejects adequately. The new Bio-Gran technology by CMG Granulators was designed to accomplish this objective.

The range of capacities of the Bio-Gran line spans form 200 kg/h all the way to 2000 kg/h.

Recycling Made Possible with Bio-Gran

PlasticsEurope plans to significantly increase investment in chemical recycling: from EUR 2.6 billion in 2025 to EUR 7.2 billion in 2030. To further accelerate investments in this key technology and the transition towards a circular economy, the Association calls for a strong policy and regulatory framework.

1.2 million t of recycled plastics is the industry’s target for chemical recycling in 2025. By 2030, this figure is expected to rise to 3.4 million t per year

Verbände, Institutionen, Messen

Verbände

kunststoffe.de

European Plastics Manufacturers Invest in Chemical Recycling

Fraunhofer Institute Umsicht, Sabic and Procter & Gamble are collaborating on a pilot project for closed-loop recycling of single-use facemasks.

The pilot project with Sabic and Procter & Gamble demonstrate the feasibility of closed-loop recycling for single-use facemasks

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

Recycling of Single-Use Facemasks

PreZero, division of Schwarz Group, is planning the acquisition of Ferrovial’s waste disposal and recycling business in Spain and Portugal and thus will be active on the Iberian Peninsula for the first time.

PreZero is planning the acquisition of Ferrovial’s waste disposal and recycling business in Spain and Portugal

Contract Conclusion between PreZero and Ferrovial

A new process developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP is able to isolate carbon black ash recovered from old tires – allowing both the carbon black and the minerals from the ash to be reused.

Top, primary product from left to right: raw rCB, clean rCB (96+), pearlized clean rCB (96+). Bottom, secondary products recovered from the ash, from left to right: liquid sodium silicate or “water glass”, precipitated SiO2, precipitated ZnSO4

Pigmente

Carbon Black Recycled from Car Tires

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

Extruder

Extrusionsanlagen

Trockner

Waschen und Entfetten

Trockner, Granulat-

Inspektion, Analyse und Sortierung von Rohmaterial

QualitÃ¤tssicherung

QualitÃ¤tssicherung Kunststoff

The Long Road to a Circular Economy

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.

Public criticism of plastics targets packaging first and foremost. The pressure to produce more sustainable products is therefore especially high on packaging manufacturers. This is why the digitally organized 31st Dresden Packaging Conference (2nd and 3rd December 2021) hosted by the German Packaging Institute ,dvi, spotlighted sustainable packaging and the circular economy.

The lecture program focused mainly on recyclate availability. According to Dr. Joachim Christiani, CEO of the Cyclos-HTP certification institute, this is simply not given for practically all polymers in sufficient quantities. His lecture included an overview of the recycling status of each of the materials that are relevant for packaging. Accordingly, recycling capacities have to be radically expanded in almost all fields in order to conform to the terms of the recently amended German Packaging Act. However, the specifications of the market and brand-name producers, some of whom have set their own goals for the use of recyclates, would have a much stronger effect on the packaging branch.

Strong deficits are mainly the case, Christiani says, where flexible kinds of packaging are produced in great quantities. These include films, bags, or sacks. He states that the LDPE (low-density polyethylene) frequently used for them is a particular headache when it comes to recyclate quantities. Also difficult is the situation for trays and other packagings made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), except for the shining example of PET bottle recycling. The main reason for this is that such packagings have previously not been sufficiently designed to be recycled, for instance, in regard to the glues or labels used.

Due to the packaging law and producers’ requirements, quite a lot has been happening on the market, observes Christiani.

Recycling Companies Can also Support Design for Recycling

Until now, recycling companies were mainly investing in equipment for recyclates in great demand and for easily recyclable plastics. Meanwhile, more and more facilities are being constructed for hard-to-recycle materials, such as wastes from mixed polyolefins (MPO), for flexible polypropylene (PP), and for PE films. The recycling quotas, Christiani continued, have led to a partial decoupling of the price for compounded plastics. Until now, they followed the prices of new material and were usually somewhat lower. With the obligation to employ specific percentages of recycled materials, this is changing. It is especially the case of polymers that were being recycled in great quantities, he concluded.

To increase the available recyclate quantities all those involved have to get in motion, in Christiani’s opinion. This includes the packaging manufacturers, final consumers, sorters, and the recycling companies as well. The latter should retrofit their facilities to provide manufacturers more freedom to design for recycling.

The current scarcity of recycled polymers was also confirmed by Christian Schiller, CEO of Cirplus, an online marketplace for recyclates. For every ten suppliers active on the platform, eight are sold out up to three months in advance or even longer. “At the moment, you can sell just about any recyclate,” Schiller summarized. That also leads to clearly higher price increases on the market. This is most clearly the case for recycled PET (rPET). Since January 2021, prices have increased by 74 % on the average, he reports. The 66 % increase for rLDPE and 64 % for rPP turned out somewhat lower, but were still considerable.

Michael Düsener, in charge of purchasing at plant supplies manufacturer Compos, offered insight into the procurement practices for recyclates. In many of their packagings, such as bottles for liquid fertilizer and sacks for potting soil, the company employs up to 90 % recyclate content. Düsener also confirmed the difficult situation regarding availability. At the moment there are still sufficient supplies available at acceptable prices, but he also fears that the situation will continue to worsen. That is due, among other things, to increasing competition from other branches. “The market is just too small,” as he succinctly summarized. Mainly for LDPE and HDPE (high density PE), Düsener reckons with a difficult supply situation. On the other hand, PP availability can be expected to improve.

Düsener also expounded on the quality of available recyclates. Top quality is currently available for PP he says, and quite good for HDPE.

 But the LDPE situation is tough. Its processing requirements are very stiff, and the availability of the quality they require is limited. It comes mainly from special collections, he points out, and not from collected household waste. In the next year or two, however, he believes the quality of LDPE recyclates will improve at least to a sufficient degree.

Retail Groups Are Aggravating  the Situation

From chemical recycling, Düsener is not expecting any rapid progress. Its possibilities for food packaging in particular are quite promising. However, until now the systems have been, with very few exceptions, limited to laboratory-scale. Since most of the waste disposal and recycling industry has invested in mechanical recycling, he does not reckon with a rapid upscaling of capacities.

The situation in the recyclate market could also worsen, he surmises, because large retail groups are increasingly buying up disposal and recycling companies. They thereby secure the required quantity of raw materials for themselves. However, that means less recyclates available on the market. For companies that lack the necessary capital to own their own recycling companies, as Düsener points out, that could cause problems in the future.

Deutsches Verpackungsinstitut e.V. (dvi)  

https://www.verpackung.org

Ausgabenartikel

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

KU 2-22_Verpackungstage - Hauptartikel

Additional information about the Packaging Conference on the event’s website: www.verpackung.org/events/digitale-verpackungstage

Verpackungsmaterial

Logistik

issue 03/2022

issue 02/2022

issue 01/2022

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