Mixed plastics recycling technology

215 Pages·1992·8.258 MB·English

by  Bruce A Hegberg, Gary R Brenniman, William H Hallenbeck

MIXED PLASTICS
RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY
Bruce A. Hegberg
Gary R. Brenniman
William H. Hallenbeck
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Foreword
This book presents an overview of mixed plastics recycling technology. In
addition it characterizes mixed plastics wastes, and describes collection
methods, costs, and markets for reprocessed plastics products. While these
studies were done for the State of Illinois, with the current national concern
about recycling, the information presented will be of interest to anyone
involved in municipal recycling, and the subsequent processing of post-
consumer mixed plastics.
The term “mixed plastics” implies a mixture of plastic resins, or a mixture of
package/product types, which may or may not be the same plastic type or
color category. The term also includes products which may be the same resin
type, but which have been fabricated using differing manufacturing tech-
niques.
1989 data indicate that U.S. plastic resin production totalled 58.2 billion
pounds (of which the packaging sector accounted for 14 billion pounds).
About 29 billion pounds were disposed of as municipal solid waste (MSW),
yet only an estimated 340 to 400 million pounds of plastics were recovered or
recycled in any way that year. It becomes evident immediately that plastics
recycling holds great potential as an industry coming of age.
The book is presented in two parts. Part I identifies the compositions of
plastics in MSW and in recycling programs, the post-consumer plastics
contributions to recycling programs, the cost of plastics collection and some
of the end uses for reprocessed post-consumer plastics. Attention is given to
curbside collection of recyclables because of its high recovery rate (60-90%)
in comparison to other recycling methods (lo-30%).
Part II discusses technologies which have been developed for the separation
and processing of mixed plastic wastes. Broad scale recycling of post-consumer
plastic waste is technically difficult because of the variety of plastic resins
which exist and the difficulty of sorting them. While further work in processing
and separating waste plastics is necessary for widespread plastics recycling,
there are methods to utilize mixed plastic waste, and methods to clean and
separate some types of plastics. The latter is primarily an emerging field of
research in recycling technologies. Recent advances in automated sorting, by
plastic type and by color, hold promise for future profit and fewer problems
for this industry.
The information in the book is from the following documents:
V
vi Foreword
Post-Consumer Mixed Plastics Recycling-Characterization, Collection,
Costs and Markets, prepared by Bruce A. Hegberg, WiIIiam H.
Hahenbeck, and Gary R. Brenniman of the University of Illinois Center
for Solid Waste Management and Research for the Illinois Department
of Energy and Natural Resources, Office of Solid Waste and Renewable
Resources, January 1991.
Technologies for Recycling Post-Consumer Mixed Plastics-Plastic Lumber
Production, Emerging Separation Technologies, Waste Plastic Handlers and
Equipment Manufacturers, prepared by Bruce A. Hegberg, Gary R.
Brenniman and William H. Hahenbeck of the University of Illinois
Center for Solid Waste Management and Research for the Illinois
Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Office of Solid Waste and
Renewable Resources, March 1991.
The table of contents is organized in such a way as to serve as a subject index
and provides easy access to the information in the book.
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Contents and Subject Index
PART I
MIXED PLASTICS RECYCLING-CHARACTERIZATION,
COLLECTION, COSTS, MARKETS
SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................... 7
1.1 National Production and Recycling Levels of Plastics ....... 11
1.2 Plastics in Municipal Solid Waste ..................... 15
1.3 Mixed Plastics in Post-Consumer Recycling .............. 17
2. CHARACTERIZATION, GENERATION AND COLLECTION
OF PLASTICS ....................................... 19
2.1 Field Assessment of Plastic Types in Municipal Solid
Waste .......................................... 19
2.2 Mixed Plastics in Recycling Programs .................. 23
New Jersey ................................... 23
Hennepin County, Minnesota ...................... 62
Walnut Creek, California ......................... 29
Akron, Ohio .................................. 29
Ontario, Canada ............................... 30
Seattle, Washington ............................. 30
PS Collection Data ............................. 30
23 Per Capita Generation .............................. 31
2.4 Commercial and Food Sector Sources of Waste Plastic ...... 39
2.5 Post-Consumer Plastic Weights ....................... 42
2.6 Summary ........................................ 42
vii
viii Contents and Subject Index
3. PLASTICS RECYCLING PROGRAMS ..................... 44
3.1 Curbside Collection of Plastics in Illinois ................ 44
3.2 Film/Rigid Plastics Recycling ......................... 44
.................................. 15
4. RECYCLING COSTS
......................... 51
4.1 Recycling Program Variables
4.2 Recycling Costs ................................... 52
Madison, Wisconsin Recycling Cost Estimate .......... 52
Minneapolis, Minnesota Plastic Recycling Cost
Estimate ................................... 55
Other Recycling Cost Estimates .................... 58
43 Collection Times .................................. 58
4.4 Recycling Truck Costs and Truck Collection Methods
for Plastics ...................................... 61
4.5 Process Cost ..................................... 62
4.6 Cost Estimate Computer Programs .................... 63
Eastman Chemical .............................. 63
Wasteplan .................................... 65
Least-Cost Scheduling ........................... 65
5. MARKETS AND PACKAGING CHANGES FOR
RECYCLED PLASTICS ................................ 70
5.1 Recycled Resin Demand ............................. 70
5.2 Packaging Changes to Increase Recycle Rates ............. 72
53 Markets in Primary Recycling ........................ 74
5.4 Markets in Secondary Recycling ....................... 75
APPENDIX A: RECYCLING VEHICLE EQUIPMENT
MANUFACTURERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY : .
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
PART II
RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY
SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 94
1.1 Plastics in Municipal Solid Waste ..................... 94
1.2 Plastic Resin Production and Product Manufacture ........ 96
Resin Manufacture ............................. 69
Additives .................................... 100
Contents and Subject Index ix
Product Manufacture ........................... 100
Extrusion Molding ............................. 102
Blow Molding ................................ 103
Injection Molding ............................. 106
Film Manufacture ............................. 107
Melt Flow Indexes ............................. 107
2. MANUFACTURE OF PLASTIC LUMBER USING MIXED
PLASTICS ......................................... 110
2.1 Plastic Wood Producers ............................ 111
2.2 Plastic Wood Production ........................... 111
23 General Guideline; for Plastic Lumber Manufacturing ..... 115
2.4 Products from Mixed Plastic Lumber .................. 116
2.5 Enhancement of Plastic Wood Properties ............... 116
2.6 Wood Fiber-Resin Composite Lumber ................. 119
2.7 Future of Mixed Plastic Lumber ...................... 119
3. EMERGING METHODS FOR PROCESSING AND
SEPARATION OF PLASTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
3.1 Optical Color Sorting of Glass and PET Containers . . . . . . . 120
3.2 Separation of PVC Bottles from Other Plastic Containers . . . 126
33 Separation of HDPE Base Cups from PET Beverage
Bottles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
3.4 Separation Using Selective Dissolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
3.5 Separation Using Soluble Acrylic Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
3.6 Initial Activities in Polyurethane Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
3.7 Initial Activities in Automotive Plastics Recycling . . . . . . . . . 142
Identification of Plastic Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Solvent Dissolution of Plastic Auto Shredder Residue . . . 143
Pyrolyzing of Auto Thermosets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
3.8 Sources of Plastic Recycling Information and Plastic
Recycling Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4. BUYERS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR WASTE PLASTICS . . . . 145
4.1 Buyers of Waste Plastic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.2 Specifications for Waste Plastic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
APPENDIX A: PLASTIC SCRAP HANDLERS AND
BROKERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
APPENDIX B: SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON PLASTICS
RECYCLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
x Contents dna Subject Index
APPENDIX c: MANUFACTURERS OF PLASTIC RECYCLING
EQUIPMENT ......................................... 191
APPENDIX D: GLOSSARY ............................... 002
REFERENCES ......................................... 502
Part
I
Mixed Plastics Recycling-
Characterization, Collection,
Costs, Markets
The information in Part I is from Post-
Consumer Mixed Plastics Recycling-Char-
acterization, Collection, Costs and Markets,
prepared by Bruce A. Hegberg, William H.
Hallenbeck, and Gary R. Brenniman of the
University of Illinois Center for Solid
Waste Management and Research for the
Illinois Department of Energy and Natural
Resources, Office of Solid Waste and
Renewable Resources, January 1991.
Acknowledgments
This public service report is a result of the concern of the
Illinois Governor, State Legislature, and the Public for the
magnitude of the solid waste problem in Illinois. The
concern led to the passage of the Illinois Solid Waste
Management Act of 1986.O ne result of this Act was the
creation of the University of Illinois Center for Solid Waste
Management and Research. The Offke of Technology
Transfer (OTT) is part of this Center. One of OTT’s means
of transferring technology is the publication of pubic service
reports which contain discussions of important topics in solid
waste management.
Funding for this public service report was, provided by the
Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources
(IDENR), Office of Solid Waste and Renewable Resources.
Additionally, OTT would like to acknowledge the review
provided by IDENR.
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