''PIASTICS RECYCLING - A MARKET UPDATE"

Transcription

1 ''PIASTICS RECYCLING - A MARKET UPDATE" PRESENTED BE Dennis Sabourin Vice President Wellman, Inc. Shrewsbury, NJ (908)

2 ~ ~ ~~~~~ Wellman, Inc. is the largest recycler of postconsumer plastic containers and fibre and film byproducts in the United States. Wellman has container recycling and processing facilities in Europe as well. My comments today, however, will be limited to the United States market and to developments within the United States. Let me begin by discussing some commonly held myths. Myth #k PLASTICS ARE NOT RECYCLABLE. Most all plastics are recyclable. The question should be, can plastics be economically recycled? I will treat this issue in detail. Myth #2: END MARKETS FOR RECYCLED PLASTICS MUST BE DEVELOPED There are adequate end markets for recycled plastics. The issue is, are there generically separated and cleaned plastics available for -~ market? This issue will be discussed as well. RECYCLING PAYS Recycling of plastics and most other commodities does not pay. When considered as a part of an integrated solid waste management system, recycling saves. It is in the context of cost avoidance that we must consider the recycling of plastics.

3 Let me now move from the myths to the facts of recycling of plastics. There is only one factor that limits the success of an economically viable plastic recycling system. This is the ~ development and implementation of a collection and sorting system to remove plastics from America s solid waste stream. n D not be possible for me to share details of our system with you today. I will share our approach, directs, and philosophy of plastics container recycling, and the road that we feel the industry must travel if we are to make plastics recycling an economic success, First, we in the recycling industry must avoid trying to be all things to all people. We i must choose the plastic end use for which we wish to recycle and concentrate in that area. Wellman is a recycler of plastic bottles. Plastic bottles represent 24% of the USA plastic packaging industry. ~ Plastic bottles represent more than 3.5 billion pounds of plastic resin per year. This is Wellman s target recyclable. Where are these plastic bottles? How can we capture them? What effect does the contents of the bottle have on recycling? -.

4 ~ ~~ In the United States, there are four ways through which plastic bottles are recovered. They are: mandatory deposits, curbside collection, buy-back centers, and drop-off centers. The last two systems produce very little product and will not be discussed. Among the other two (deposit system and curbside collection) the deposit system, in which plastic is limited to PET beverage bottles, produces most of the plastic bottles being recycled today. is concentrating its time, effort, and money in order to expand its curbside collection network. It is my view that curbside collection will expand dramatically. In order for curbside collection to grow, it must be consumer friendly and simple. We feel that the future of curbside recycling is the multi-material collection of mixed recyclables. Only those recyclables that can be economically sorted from each other and have outlets for disposal should be collected at curbside. It is because of our commitment to the concept of curbside collection that Wellman joined forces with New England CRInc. in a strategic partnership which expanded into CRInc. becoming part of the Wellman family as a wholly owned subsidiary in August

5 CRInc. builds and operates multi-material recycling facilities (MRF"s) in North America using the state-of-the-art Bezner sortation system for mixed recyclables. The Bezner system being used in North America today allows for the separation of aluminum, ferrous metal, glass, and plastic containers from a mixed stream of these IQroducts. The separation is accomplished in an effective, efficient, and economical manner. The output of the Bezner system is separate recyclable commodities of excellent quality that are ready for market. Wellman's CRInc. subsidiaay now operates five MRF's in North America with seven MRF's under construction. The key to any recycling program is to capture a commodity that can be separated and has value. It goes without saying that there must be a need to recycle as a starting point. -A The need to recycle plastic bottles in the United States has been well documented. - Wastk bottles, although relatively light in weight, occupy a large volume of our decreasing municipal solid waste landfills. According to the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plastics occupy 7.9% of the USA municipal waste stream by weight and 18% of the volume of our landfills. This is &I plastics. (4) i

6 ~ ittgs If we consider plastic bottles, the volume occupied by bottles is much greater. In a very successful curbside collection program where PET beverage bottles and milk and wager jugs of HDPE are collected, the volume-to-weight relationship in the collection vehicle of the plastic bottles is 7 to 1. it f9u) there were 17,500 active landfills in the United States. By 1990, more than 11,000 landfills have been closed. Today there are about 6,000 active landfills in the USA. By the end of 1994, there is projected to be only 4,800 landfills remaining. Landfills are filled with volume not weight. We must concentrate on the high volume-to-weight segment of MSW as targets for recycling. Plastic bottles because of their high volume-to- weight ratio must be targeted for recycling with one caveat. We must not let our desire to recycle get ahead of our technological ability to recycle. Wellman has been recycling PET beverage bottles since 1979 and HDPE milk and water since These bottles can be separated from each other by profile definition, by hand. As landfills close and as the tipping fees to dispose of municipal solid waste increase, consumers, environmental groups, and industry have been eager to recycle a wider range of plastic bottles.

7 Some companies have attempted to recycle mixed plastic containers with limited economic success. Others have tried to separate plastic bottles by hand and find that this approach is not economically viable. We feel that the only economically viable approach to plastic bottle recycling is generic polymer separation. Any successful mixed plastic system must have the ability to separate polymer types from each other. The Wellman system will do Wellman and other companies in the recycling business have dedicated time and money in order to be able to sort plastic bottles into their generic type. Wellman has developed such a system; but as Shonenberg said in his book, MIDDLE AGE RAGE, there are only two great tragedies in life--one is not getting what you want, and the other is getting what you want. 4 The emphasis is no longer on sorting rather it is on markets for the sorted products. Recyclers find today that once these bottles have been sorted and cleaned that there are no viable economic markets for some of the products that have been identified for recycling. I S " - Tnclude for recycling only those plastics that have economically viable markets. ~~ ~ We must not let our enthusiasm to recycle get away from us. We send a wrong and dangerous signal by beginning a recycling program that can not be sustained. (6)

8 There are legislative efforts to enact recycling rate and recycle content or reuse standards that will create markets for recycled commodities. This will create a level playing field for materials that does not now exist. Not all plastic can, will, or should be recycled. We must not lose sight of the economic - -4 recycling as we choose the plastics to be recycled. Wellman's target postconsumer plastic bottles are PET beverage bottles and HDPE milk and water jugs. These postconsumer materials have viable and sustainable markets. Wellman will continue to be a dominant factor in the postconsumer plastics industry. We will concentrate on our target plastics and extend our outreach for these products. There are end uses for recycled products. Plastic bottles must be separated by generic type in order to be able'to take advantage of end use and resin markets. Generic separation is the only viable economic answer to plastic bottle recycling.