Engineering plastics recyclability

P.A. Tarantili, A.N. Mitsakaki, and M.A. Petoussi, Processing and properties of engineering plastics recycled from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), Polym. Degrad. Stab., In Press, Accepted Manuscript, 2010. 

Phenolics are consumed at roughly half the volume of PVC, and all other plastics are consumed in low volume quantities, mosdy in single apphcation niches, unlike workhorse resins such as PVC, phenoHc, urea—melamine, and polyurethane. More expensive engineering resins have a very limited role in the building materials sector except where specific value-added properties for a premium are justified. Except for the potential role of recycled engineering plastics in certain appHcations, the competitive nature of this market and the emphasis placed on end use economics indicates that commodity plastics will continue to dominate in consumption. The apphcation content of each resin type is noted in Table 2. Comparative prices can be seen in Table 5. The most dynamic growth among important sector resins has been seen with phenoHc, acryUc, polyurethane, LLDPE/LDPE, PVC, and polystyrene. 

The forecasts made in 1985 (77) of 8—8.5% worldwide aimual growth have not materialized. The 2 x lOg + /yr engineering plastic production reported for 1985—1986 has remained fairly constant. Whereas some resins such as PET, nylon-6, and nylon-6,6 have continued to experience growth, other resins such as poly(phenylene oxide) have experienced downturns. This is due to successhil inroads from traditional materials (wood, glass, ceramics, and metals) which are experiencing a rebound in appHcations driven by new technology and antiplastics environmental concerns. Also, recycling is likely to impact production of all plastics. 

BASF CANADA INC. DUPONT CANADA INC. EVERGREEN NYLON RECYCLING LLC RHODIA ENGINEERING PLASTICS... 

A three-year joint European project, RECAM, recommends that it should be possible to colleet more than 50% of carpet waste in Western Europe. High-grade materials such as PA and PP could be recovered for the manufacture of engineering plastics compounds and more than 8 million Gigajoules of energy could be reeovered from the remainder. At the heart of the proj ect are ehemieal recycling processes developed by both DSM and Enichem. 

Geneva, lst-3rd Sept. 1995, p.II.24-9. 8(13) RECYCLING OF ENGINEERING PLASTICS -OPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS Riess R Bayer AG... 

Seidel, S. and Salsman, R., presentation given at the Society of Plastic Engineers Annual Recycling Conference, Chicago, IL, 15-17 October, 1999. 

Recycling is particularly important for the building civil engineering market, the sector with the second-largest consumption of thermoplastics. Unfortunately, plastics recycling presents technical and economic difficulties and is less advanced, industrially, than that of metals or glass. 

Dr John Scheirs is a polymer research specialist with an emphasis on plastic recycling and pyrolysis of waste plastics into fuels. He serves as a consultant for Ozmotech Australia and has worked on the development of their Thermofuel process which can convert unwashed mixed plastics into low-sulfur diesel transportation fuel. He has studied the pyrolysis of HDPE, PP, PET and engineering plastics. 

Plastic resins are bulk commodities. A naphtha cracker producing ethylene has a typical yearly capacity of 500000 tonnes of ethylene, necessitating about 1.2 Mtonnes of naphtha feedstock Polymerization to resins is conducted with a somewhat lower capacity, but still at the same order of magnitude, say 150000 tonnes. Engineering plastics are produced at lower capacity, but this lower rank is still far superior to the capacity of the largest feedstock recycling units conceived to date ... 

In this book, now in its fifth edition, the author has compiled a selection of proven procedures which, based on his own experience, will enable the technician, the engineer, and also the technical customer service representative to identify an unknown plastic, e.g., for purposes of quality control or plastics recycling. All described procedures were carried out by the author as well as by students in courses at the German Plastics Institute. Additional experience with these procedures was thus obtained and included in the book. The author welcomes any other comments and suggestions for additions by readers and users of this book. 

Fibers Tour Polymer Composites Polymer Processing Tour Polymer Characterization Engineering Plastics Physical Testing Laboratory Tour Polymeric Waste and Recycling... 

R. H. Burnett and G. A. Baum, Engineering Thermoplastics in Plastics Recycling Products and Processes, R. J. Ehrig Ed., Carl Hanser Verlag Munich, pp. 151-168 (1992). 

A. Christensen, Recycling of Plastics. How will the Political Aims be Reached The Challenge of the Market in proceedings of Plastics Recycling 91, Copenhagen, Denmark, Society of Plastics Engineers, pp. 5.1-5.6 (1991). 

The nylon market can be divided into two segments resin products and fibre products. The total consumption of nylon in Western Europe was 913,000 tons in 1993, of which 560,000 tons were fibre products divided among textiles, carpets, and industrial fibre [22]. The total annual nylon consumption, as well as that of other engineering plastics, is small compared to that of high-volume commodity thermoplastics for example, the consumption of LLDPE/LDPE for 1993 was 5,548,000 tons [22]. Engineering plastics therefore constitute a minor share of the total plastics waste. Nevertheless, for an environmentally responsible company it is necessary to develop a clear strategy for the recycling of products and to help their clients do the same. 

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