Consumer plastics

Vinyl compares favorably to other packaging materials. In 1992, a lifecycle assessment comparison of specific packages made from glass, paperboard, paper, and selected plastics concluded that vinyl was the material that has the lowest production energy and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the lowest fossil fuel and raw material requirements of the plastics studied (169). Vinyl saves more than 34 million Btu per 1000 pounds manufactured compared to the highest energy-consuming plastic (170). 

APPR Assoc, of Post-consumer Plastics Recyclers... 

Commercial plastics polymerisation is akin to making pig s ears out of silk purses, albeit usually useful porcine ears from very worn out handbags. What were once valuable polymers are turned into generally less valuable monomers. The regenerated monomers and small chemicals from polymerisation of post-consumer plastics have no particular moral authority or intrinsic grace compared to chemicals derived from non-recycling sources. To be successful, commercial polymerisation must make economic sense in ways that are understood by those who invest dear money into capital assets. 

Post-consumer plastic waste recycling is discussed with special reference to feedstock recycling, the advantages it has over mechanical recycling, and the techniques involved. Chemolysis and thermolysis are explained, and... 

USE OF REFUSE DERIVED FUEL ENHANCED WITH POST-CONSUMER PLASTICS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY BY THE GASIFICATION PROCESS... 

Results are presented of studies undertaken in Italy by SAFI and Replastic of the gasification of refuse derived fuel enriched with post-consumer plastics for the production of electrical energy and gas for use in cement making. 11 refs. 

The use of plastics as an energy source was demonstrated on a commercial scale at ICl Materials plastics manufacturing site in Dumfries, UK. This paper covers the preparation and use of pre- and post-consumer plastics as supplementary fuels in a circulating fluidised bed boiler specially designed for co-combustion with coal. Full emissions data on the 15% mixtures of individual plastics with coal are given, together with calculations of thermal efficiencies. Measurements by an independent body (British Coal Research Establishment) confirmed that the co-combustion of coal and plastic reduces some emissions compared with coal alone. Thermal efficiencies of around 80% were achieved and this heat was used effectively during the production of plastics. 7 refs. 

Brief details are given of two proposed resolutions on the subject of pyrolysis of waste plastic. The first states that pyrolysis and other methods of chemically reprocessing post-consumer plastics is a suitable way of diverting waste from landfills. The second resolution, supported by environmentalists, states that pyrolysis only recovers plastic s energy value, and should not be viewed as recycling. 

AliTiost all vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride, a versatile consumer plastic. 

Materials in the ADME/Tox screening process relate mainly to consumables (plastic ware, tips, plates, reagents, etc.) and the raw materials the tests will be performed on, which are plates with compounds and cells. To simplify the analysis, it is assumed that access to consumables is not a major issue, since these supplies can easily be ordered through the supply chain and are generally available to the personnel performing the test assays (Figures 1.4 to 1.7). 

Examples of mixed post-consumer plastic waste by the combination of a three-stage sink-float method and selective flotation have been presented. The appropriate conditions, e.g., wetting agents, frother, depressant, and pH condition, are of importance (122). 

S. Pongstabodee, N. Kunachitpimol, and S. Damronglerd, Combination of three-stage sink-float method and selective flotation technique for separation of mixed post-consumer plastic waste, Waste Manage. (Oxford), 28(3) 475—483,2008. 

The high consumption of plastics in developed countries (over 50 million tons in the year 2001 and an increase of 4% year-1 is expected) explains the great interest for exploitation of post-consumer plastics. Taking into account that the environmental regulations prohibit their exploitation by combustion, thermal decomposition or pyrolysis is one of the procedures for recycling plastic with best perspectives for obtaining feedstock and fuel. 

In spite of the major effort in this field in the last 30 years, the development at industrial scale of post-consumer plastic pyrolysis has considerable uncertainties concerning the selection of the more suitable technology. The more developed technology in the literature is the bubbling fluidized bed reactor [1-5] where the fused plastic coats the inert particles (sand). Nevertheless, the operation at large scale in this reactor presents problems of defluidization, due to particle agglomeration provoked by fusion of particles coated with plastic [4]. 

One approach to reduce the contaminant levels consists in reusing the wasted plastic as the core of the new material. Residues of pesticides or harmful contaminants may limit recycling of plastics as a result of their potential toxicity. Utilisation of post-consumer plastics for pharmaceutical or food-contact applications is forbidden, and multilayer food packaging materials manufactured using functional barriers are subjected to strict regulations [9, 40, 41]. 

W. Ding, J. Liang, and L.L. Anderson, Thermal and catalytic degradation of high-density polyethylene and commingled post-consumer plastic waste. Fuel Process. Technol., 51, 47 (1997). 

Huber, M., and Franz, R. (1997). Studies on contamination of post-consumer plastics from controlled resources for recycling into food packaging applications. Deutsche lebensmittel-Rundschan 93(10), 328-331. (In Franz, R., and Welle, F. (2003). Recycling packaging materials. Ch. 23. In "Novel Food Packaging Teclmiques" (R. Ahvenainen, ed.), pp. 497-518. Woodhead, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL). 

In this chapter the technical as well as legislative aspects of mechanical (secondary) recycling of post-consumer plastics will be described. For packaging materials containing a certain amount of PCR plastics the most important point is the migration of the suspicious compounds from the polymer. 

Feedstock/feed stream Post-consumer plastics used as raw materials for recycling. 

The problem with post-consumer plastics is their immense variety and widespread application. One tonne of plastics can be converted into either 20000 two-litre drinks bottles or 120000 carrier bags Collecting, sorting, baling, and transporting such numbers of lightweight materials is a tremendous task, with typical cost levels as shown in Table 1.10. 

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