DISEÑO Y DESARROLLO DE UNA PLANTA PILOTO DEMOSTRATIVA PARA EL RECICLADO DE POLIVINIL BUTIRAL (PVB) LIFE09 ENV/ES/ RECYCLED - PVB

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1 DISEÑO Y DESARROLLO DE UNA PLANTA PILOTO DEMOSTRATIVA PARA EL RECICLADO DE POLIVINIL BUTIRAL (PVB) LIFE09 ENV/ES/ RECYCLED - PVB Título: INFORME LAYMAN INGLES Nº deliverable: D.9.2. Fecha inicio proyecto: Septiembre 2010 Duración: 36 meses Nombre del coordinador del proyecto: Claudio Fernández Nombre de la organización coordinadora del proyecto: Fundación L Urederra

2 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A DEMONSTRATIVE PILOT PLANT FOR THE RECYCLING OF POLYVINYL BUTYRAL (PVB) (LIFE09 ENV/ES/000501) pvb.eu/ VIDRIO LAMINADO PLANTA PILOTO DE RECICLADO PVB PURIFICADO Background and objectives Laminated glass is manufactured by putting together two or more glass layers, joined like sandwich by one or more sheets of polyvinyl butyral (PVB). PVB is the most commonly used as inter-layer polymer, due its unique properties such as: glass adhesion, elasticity and resistance to impact.

3 According to the European Commission, at least 7 million of vehicles are estimated to be thrown away every year in Europe. Laminated glass constitutes up to 3% of the overall material in vehicles at the end of its life. This laminated glass reaches approximately Tons of waste per year in Europe, coming exclusively from endof-life vehicles. At present, there are not any effective recycling techniques for laminated glass. Only mechanical separation methods, as best, to separate glass from PVB, are available on the market, and the resulting PVB is used for combustion or incineration processes. In this situation, Technological Centre Lurederra detected a huge gap concerning laminated glass recycling, which could be solved through the development of new advanced technologies. After having achieved successful results at laboratory scale for the processes of recycling and purification of PVB, and due to the innovative character of the process, Lurederra obtained in 2009 a world-wide patent with registration number WO/2009/118426, called POLYVINYL BUTYRAL RECYCLING METHOD. PVB RECYCLING METHOD AT LABORATORY SCALE After validation of the process at laboratory scale, the pilot plant for recycling was developed through this project LIFE09 ENV/ES/000501, whose main goal was to design and build a demonstrative pilot plant for PVB recycling, from laminated glass derived from both, automotive and building sector. The pilot plant will have a treating capacity of 20 kg per hour, obtaining at the end of the process purified material with optimal properties to be used in laminated glass manufacturing.

4 Accomplishments and results The pilot plant for PVB recycling, which is located in Los Arcos (Navarra, Spain), consists of three independent modules, each of them designed to perform one specific stage in the recycling process. The three main stages of the recycling process of PVB are described below: - Module I: windscreens crushing stage, removing pollutants and other elements (rubber and coloured band), and separation in two streams: glass and PVB polluted with glass powder adhered to the plastic surface, and storage of the products. INPUT MATERIAL: WIND SCREENS REUSABLE PRODUCTS RUBER AND GLASS DUST FINAL PRODUCT: PVB CRUSHED AND WASHED - Module II: this stage, based on the technology developed by Lurederra, consists of a combination of chemical reactions able to remove glass and other pollutants from plastic surface, obtaining this way glass-free material from polluted PVB post-consumer. Along this stage, material washing and drying processes take place, enabling to obtain optimal material ready to be used in the next stage. INPUT MATERIAL: PVB POLLUTED WITH GLASS OUTPUT MATERIAL: POLLUTED AND RECYCLED PVB

5 - Module III: during this stage, PVB purified flakes coming from Module II are transformed into pellets of recycled PVB, conditioned to be used as raw material for other processes. PVB FLAKES PURIFIED / RECYCLED RECYCLED PVB PELLETS This pilot plant is able to use two different sources of wastes to be treated through the recycling line, as the three aforementioned modules are completely independent. Firstly, windscreens can be recycled by extracting PVB in Module I and going through the chemical treatment on Module II. On the other hand, post-consumer PVB coming from glass recyclers can be introduced directly on Module II to complete its purification.

6 Different recycling tests of the PVB material have been performed during this project, using the two materials previously mentioned (windscreens and post-consumer PVB) with the aim of detecting possible weakness in the process and optimize material purification. The table below presents the results concerning mechanical features of recycled PVB, comparing them with PVB commercially available: Feature PVB on the market Recycled PVB Density (g/cm 3 ) Hardness Tensile strength (Kgf/cm 2 ) Elongation at break (%) The FT-IR spectrum presented below shows comparative results between post-consumer PVB (avoiding any purifying treatment) and recycled PVB, which has been treated and purified through the new recycling technology: Characteristic band: Si O bond As it can be observed in this spectrum, a characteristic band of the Si-O bond ( cm -1) appears in PVB post-consumer, corresponding to silicates; on the other hand, purified PVB does not show this peculiar band, verifying this way that the glass particles have been completely removed.

7 Benefits and Project impacts The waste stream consisting of post-consumer PVB is currently carried out through mechanical separation of plastic and glass by glass recyclers. This material still contains glass adhered, so that it has not quality enough to be used in primary application products, becoming another waste to be buried in landfills. Precisely, landfills are increasingly scarce and pose a number of problems and disadvantages. Therefore, recycling technology developed through this project is a strong alternative since it reduces wastes generation, helps power saving and contributes to protect the environment. For all the above mentioned, is of great importance and value the impact derived from the project. A strong interest from all PVB related sectors has been detected, and there is a global aim to recover and reuse recycled postconsumer PVB, which implies that the waste can be reused in primary applications. It can be concluded that the recycling pilot plant means an innovative technology for laminated glass recycling, which improves all the processes existing so far today from the environmental point of view, adding high industrial value and economic efficiency. PVB RECYCLING PILOT PLANT TECHNOLOGICAL CENTER LUREDERRA Polígono Industrial Perguita C/A N Los Arcos, Navarra (España) Teléfono: Fax: