Feedstock recycling technology

Details are given of a visit by RECOUP to BP Chemical s feedstock recycling demonstration unit in Sunbury. The feedstock recycling technology has been developed by a consortium of companies, and will enable polyolefin rich plastic waste from domestic and commercial sources to be vapourised and then condensed to form a hydrocarbon wax. This can then be used to feed existing petrochemical crackers to produce polymers indistinguishable from virgin material, it is claimed. 

Figure 14.26. Overview of range of feedstock recycling technologies that have been investigated for the recycling of postnse plastics. Sonrce American Plastics Council.

The difference between chemical and feedstock recycling is pecuhar. As we will see in the next sections, there is, in essence, hardly any technology that recycles polymers into its own monomers. In this report we will concentrate on feedstock recycling, but in this broad definition we will include chemical recycling as well, see Section 5. 

The next step would be to build a large scale plant of 50 ktonnes per year. However, such an investment needs financing and a commitment of the European PVC industry to this initiative (i.e., a choice for this technology as the feedstock recycling process for PVC waste). Building the plant would take about 5 years. At this stage, it seems that within the PVC industry there is more support for the Linde and Vinyloop processes. 

Linde KC A in Germany offers another technology for feedstock recycling that has been developed on the... 

Obviously, there are more traditional treatment options for plastic waste than feedstock recycling. In the next chapter I will compare the feedstock option with more traditional options, here some data are given on the latter. In this section, I will discuss the following technologies ... 

Finally, other relevant treatment options for plastics waste include landfill and mechanical recycling. Since these options (unlike Vinyloop and cement kiln incineration) are not even similar to feedstock recycling we discuss them here only very briefly. Mechanical recycling of plastics (be it PVC or other plastics), needs dedicated collection of the plastic waste in question. This is only possible for selected plastic flows (high volumes, recognisable products, products consisting mainly of one plastic). Landfill can accept plastic waste in any waste context (pure plastic type, MPW, mixed materials). I will only address the costs of these alternative technologies. 

Feedstock recycling processes for treating PVC rich waste streams should be eapable of recovering both the chlorine and hydrocarbon contents. ECVM sponsored research and development work to identify potential technologies for building a pilot plant is described. 3 refs. 

Proponents of a technology that converts plastics into chemical feedstocks for use as new resin or fuel, are optimistic that it will eventually be accepted as recycling. The technologies and targets vary, but, according to representatives, the conversion of plastics into feedstocks is a feasible recycling technology for wastes that do not... 

DEHALOGENATION OF PLASTIC DERIVED OIL A KEY TECHNOLOGY FOR FEEDSTOCK RECYCLING OF WASTE PLASTICS BY PYROLYSIS... 

Shawbury, Rapra Technology Ltd., 2002, pp.122, 29 cm. Rapra Review Report 148, vol. 13, No.4, 2002 PLASTICS WASTE - FEEDSTOCK RECYCLING,... 

A. Tukker, Plastic Waste - Feedstock Recycling, Chemical Recycling and Incineration, Vol 13(4), RAPRA Technology Ltd., 2002. 

The following technologies have been reported as most promising options for feedstock recycling of MPW [9]. 

On the other hand, the facilities of feedstock recycling plants have been constructed corresponding to the planned amount, and the amount accepted has increased sharply. This indicates that there is competition among the technologies and the recycling plants and results in the sharp drop in the tender price [2]. 

This is a vital problem for liquefaction and has failed in the advanced German trials. In Japan, liquefaction has first to defeat incineration, the technique that has prevailed in most municipahties. The rate of incineration in municipalities has reached 80% or so and 40 million tons of garbage are incinerated every year. From this point of view, the reduction of collection and baling costs as described above is an easy way to achieve this. Second is the question of how to reduce the liquefaction cost compared with those for the other feedstock recycling methods, such as application in the iron and steel industry and gasification for ammonia synthesis. These methods have the merits discussed above. On the other hand, liquefaction has many weak points, it is small in scale, complicated with a mixed raw material for fine technology, and has a low degree of operation, 50% or so. 

Aguado and D. Serrano, Feedstock Recycling of Plastic Wastes, Royal Society of Cdiemistry Clean Technology Monographs. Cambridge, UK, 1999. 

Other technologies such as feedstock recycling must be promoted to meet the recycling targets. 

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