The post-consumer plastics recycling market in Germany, presentation of an innovative plastic recycling project

Transcription

1 Plastics recycling workshop The post-consumer plastics recycling market in Germany, presentation of an innovative plastic recycling project Düsseldorf, 14th July 2014 Dipl.-Ing. Michael Jansen

2 Table of content 1. Overview post-consumer plastics recycling market in Germany 2. Overview project SD Example on process technological research on Nascheiding 2

3 Sources of plastics for recycling Mainly thermoplastics (PE, PP, PET, ), ability to melt crucial for material recycling Packaging major source of plastics for recycling (large quantity due to short service life) Household waste Bulky waste Commercial waste Construction and Demolition waste Packaging waste Source: Kern 3

4 Recycling options Total of Gg plastic packaging waste in Germany (corrected for import/export) Mostly material recycling (app. 49 %) About 3 % of the plastics landfilled Plastic packaging waste in Germany, ,3 1287, ,6 Material recycling [Gg] Resource recycling [Gg] Total energy recovery [Gg] Not recycled [Gg] Source: UBA 4

5 Qualities of plastics for material recycling Following established quality criteria grants market access for sorting products Various polymers (LDPE, PP, PET, ) covered as well as mixed plastics and other products related to the German light weigt packaging system 5

6 Source: DKR 6

7 Who can recycle what? Possibility to obtain an EuCertPlast certificate Certified recyclers can process plastic packaging waste from Germany which is then accounted to the recycling quota Source: EuCertPlast 7

8 Research questions TIFN SD001 Process technological research on separate collection and recovery schemes (Bronscheiding/Nascheiding) Recovery from MSW Sorting of plastic packaging waste concentrates Production of milled goods Polymer technological research Logistical description of different recycling networks Environmental impacts Economic costs Source separated PPW Sorting plant Polymer concentrate (HDPE, PP, PET, film, mix) Reprocessing plant Consumer MSRW MBT plant PPW preconcentrate Sorting plant Reprocessing plant Polymer concentrate (PO, film) Polymer concentrate (HDPE, PP, PO, PET, film, mix) Partners: Wageningen UR, RWTH Aachen, TU Eindhoven, Blonk Milieuadvies, etc. Plastic granulate Plastic granulate 8

9 Plastics in MSW Plastic content in MSW depends on various factors Presence of additional collection systems (e.g. light weight packaging collection) Amount and composition of commercial waste Rural or urban areas Percentages may be misleading Better use [kg/(cap.*a)] and look upon all waste streams in a certain region 9

10 MSW from Rotterdam High potential of recyclables due to almost no separate collection MSW: 337 kg/(cap.*a) Plastic potential: 46 kg/(cap.*a) No commercial waste used in the trial Paper; 22,5% Metal; 5,1% Glass; 5,0% Bottles; 1,2% Thermo formed; 0,2% Trays; 2,8% Bags; 0,9% Plastics; 13,6% Films; 4,3% Residue; 53,7% Composites; 0,5% Non-packaging, etc.; 3,8% 10

11 MSW Treatment in Wijster Screening to remove fines Air classification to remove flexibles/produce a film product NIR sorting to recover PE/PP/PET for further sorting Mass balance % kg/(cap.*a) PE/PP/PET Films Paper/plastics Organics RDF Sum

12 Qualities of the products Concentration of other Light material suction materials can be an issue Similarities of materials Feed conveyor Paper flow in the plant Nozzle Heavy material discharge 46,6% 6,1% Films 10,6% 33,0% 1,0% 2,3% Bottles Thermoformed Rigids Bags Films Compounds Organics Paper Other plastics Residue 12

13 Qualities of the products Polymers have to be separated for material recycling Loss of all non-plastic material to the sorting rest Not the full potential of HDPE, PP and PET can be yielded into the sorting products Mass balance % kg/(cap.*a) after sorting 2,7% 13,1% 6,5% 2,5% 13,0% PE/PP/PET 11,9% 30,5% 0,6% 12,1% 7,1% Bottles Thermoformed Rigids Bags Films Compounds Organics Paper Other plastics (HD/LD) PE/PP/PET Yield 39 % Films Mixed plastics Sorting losses Paper/plastics Organics RDF Sum

14 Conclusions Recovery of plastics from MSW is possible Losses due to treatment lower the full potential of plastics Large variety of plastic fractions is a challenge for processing Plastic recovery can replace/complement separate collection of plastic packaging Plastic recovery can be applied where MSW treatment in MRFs is obligatory Yield [kg/(cap.*a)] can be a little bit higher than yield of separate collection in the same region Composition of the MSW is an important factor due to other recyclables being recovered during the same operation or influencing the plastic recovery 14

15 Thank you for your attention! Dipl.-Ing. Michael Jansen Department of Processing and Recycling RWTH Aachen University Wüllnerstr Aachen 15