^ p . IL- ard Stu "This is a new-to-the- world industry with huge energy savings. Recycling plastics uses only roughly 10 percent of the energy that it takes to make a pound of plastic from virgin materials." Dr. Mike Biddle President MBA Polymers Plastics in Products in MSW (1999) 3.8% soft drink milk and other bags, sacks, other bottles water bottles containers and wraps packaging Of the estimated 22.4 million tons of plastics produced in the United States in 1998, only about 5.4 percent were recovered for recycling. Plastics used in durable goods (such as cars, electronics, and appli- ances) account for the largest proportion by weight of plastics in U.S. municipal solid waste (MSW). However, the mixed waste streams characteristic of these harder, engineered plastics are difficult to separate and, thus, complex to recycle. New separation technologies could increase recycling rates for plastics significantly. Separating Plastics The technical difficulties and high cost associated with separating plastics have limited recycling in the past. Post-consumer products often contain as many as 20 different types of plastic materials as well as non-plastic materials such as wood, rubber, glass, and fibers. In addition, the dynamic nature of the plastics business produces a steady stream of new products and pigment types, which can pose a challenge to the recycling infrastructure. Consequently, the cost of producing vir- gin materials is often less than the cost of collecting and processing post-con- sumer plastics. Three new separation technologies, developed by MBA Polymers, Argonne National Laboratory, and Recovery Plastics International (RPI), could break down these barriers and increase plastics recycling. Automated Separation MBA Polymers, with early financial support from the American Plastics Council, U.S. Department of Energy NICE3 program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Commerce (NIST ATP), State of California CalTIPP, and Vehicle Recycling Partnership, developed a process in which plastic scraps from computers and other electronics are first ground into small pieces. Magnets and eddy-current separators then extract ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Paper and other lighter materials are removed with jets of air. Finally, a proprietary sorting, cleaning, and testing process involving various technologies, enables the company to separate different types of plastics and compound them into pelletized products comparable to virgin plastics. Froth Flotation Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, developed a process to separate acryloni- trile-butadiene styrene (ABS) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS)—two common forms of plastics—from recovered automo- biles and appliances. The froth flotation process separates two or more equivalent-density plastics by modifying the effective density ------- of the plastics. The key to this tech- nology is carefully controlling the chemistry of the aqueous solution— the "froth"—so that small gas bub- bles attach to the material's surface and enable the plastic to float to the top. Skin Rotation Recovery Plastics International (RPI) has developed an automated process capable of recovering up to 80 percent of the plastics found in automobile shredder residue (ASR). RPI predicts that its new skin flotation technology could divert approximately one-third of the estimated 7 million tons of ASR disposed of each year. The process begins with the separation of light lint materials, followed by the removal of rocks and metals, granulation, wash- ing, and, finally, automated "skin flotation" separation. This final step adds a skin of plasticizer to make the surface of the targeted plastic hydrophobic. Air bubbles then can attach to the plastic, allowing it to float above denser, uncoated pieces. Projected Energy Savings I virgin materials Plastics recovery, in addition to increased diversion from disposal, results in significant energy savings (an estimated 50-75 MBtu/ton of material recycled) compared with the production of virgin materials. Reducing energy use, in turn, leads to reductions in greenhouse gas emis- sions due to avoided fuel use. Limiting the plastics that enter landfills can lower the costs associ- ated with waste disposal by reduc- ing tipping fees. In addition, plas- tics recyclers expect to sell recycled plastic pellets for as much as 70 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5306W) ^ 1 primary fuel use electricity total energy use energy use use percent of the typical price for vir- gin plastics. Recyclers will profit from selling their product, while purchasers will benefit from the reduced price of recycled plastic. Challenges MBA Polymers has been fully commer- cial for more than a year. Ironically, one of the greatest barriers to opera- tional expansion is the lack of avail- able material. Computer recyclers increasingly find it cheaper to export intact units rather than dismantle the units in the United States. The market demand for recycled plastic resin is clearly growing, but the difficulty is collecting the material and getting it to the recyclers economically. A more developed infrastructure is needed to provide separators with a constant stream of source material. The other separation technologies are still largely pre-commercial The next step for these emerging technologies is to conduct pilot studies and estab- lish permanent facilities. The economic viability of these sepa- ration technologies is still largely speculative, but projections made by Argonne National Laboratory and Recovery Plastics International inch'- EPA 530-F-02-023 July 2002 www.epa.gov cate that processing recycled plastics will cost the same or less than manu- facturing plastics from virgin materi- als. Operation costs for processing recycled plastics are estimated in the range of 10-20 cents per pound, which should make recycled plastic resin competitive with costs for exist- ing virgin plastics. Initial capital costs can be prohibi- tive, but the payback period is rela- tively short. RPI estimates that the initial capital cost to install a com- mercial-size plastics recycling facility (capable of producing 20 million pounds per year) ranges from $2-5 million and has a typical payback period of one to three years. The two other separators estimate two-year paybacks for capital costs. Additional Information American Council for an Energy- Efficient Economy (ACEEE) http://www.aceee.org/ MBA Polymers Dr. Mike Biddle Mbiddle@mbapolymers.com http://www.mbapolymers.com/ Argonne National Laboratory http://www.anl.gov/ Recovery Plastics International Ronald Kobler rpislc@efortress.com EPA's Climate and Waste Program increases awareness of climate change and its link to waste management in order to (1) make green- house gas emissions a factor in waste manage- ment decisions and (2) employ waste manage- ment as a mitigation action for reducing green- house gas emissions. For additional information on EPA's Climate and Waste Program, see www.epa.gov/mswclimate. Recycled/Recyclable Printed with Vegtable Oil-Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 50% Postconsumer) Process Chlorine Free ------- |