Plastic packaging wastes

As for enviromnental aspects, in the last years many LCAs have been performed that aimed to compare the different recycling and treatment routes for plastics packaging waste. They often include cost calculations for the whole waste management chain. Examples include ... 

The 1999 Heyde and Kremer Erauenhofer LCA on plastics packaging waste (a.6)... 

For treatment of plastics packaging waste, many technologies are available. They basically can be divided into the following classes ... 

The eurrent and future levels of plastic packaging recycling is discussed with reference to the imminent updating of the 1994 Paekaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Data are ineluded relating to current recovery levels by eountry for western Europe, for mechanical and... 

PALLET PLANT MAY OFFER MARKET FOR PLASTIC PACKAGING WASTE... 

BASF has delayed a decision on whether to press ahead with a DM300 million investment in a plastics feedstock recycling unit at Ludwigshafen. The decision to go ahead depends on the winning of a contract from DKR, a new recycling company for plastics packaging waste. The article supplies full details. 

Energy recovery from packaging waste is discussed, with particular reference to the co-combustion of mixed plastics with other conventional fuels such as wood, coal and peat. Experimental work is described in which a project was established to evaluate the possibility of energy recovery from a circulating fluidised bed boiler using packaging from different sources as fuel. The role of sulphur in the formation of PCDD/F in the combustion process was also studied. 

They are then forced through a narrow die to form a hollow tube called a parison. A chilled mold is then clamped around the parison and inflated from the inside by air. The air pressure presses the parison against the mold, and it hardens in the shape of the mold. The mold then opens and ejects the HDPE bottle. The bottle is then trimmed and conveyed to the milk filling station. The waste plastic is ground for reuse. GHG emissions associated with the embodied energy of the packaging machinery may be calculated but typically fall near the 1% cutoff line and can be excluded (Cashman et ah, 2009). 

Contaminants in recycled plastic packaging waste (HDPE, PP) were identified by MAE followed by GC-MS analysis [290]. Fragrance and flavour constituents from first usage were detected. Recycled material also contained aliphatic hydrocarbons, branched alkanes and alkenes, which are also found in virgin resins at similar concentration levels. Moreover, aromatic hydrocarbons, probably derived from additives, were found. Postconsumer PET was also analysed by Soxhlet extraction and GC-MS most of the extracted compounds (30) were thermally degraded products of additives and polymers, whereas only a few derived from the original contents... 

F.E. Mark, Metals in Source Separated Plastics Packaging Waste, APME, Bmssels (1996). 

The EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste sets a recovery target for used packaging of 25% by 2001 and 50-65% by 2005. It is likely that recycling of postconsumer plastics will require substantial polymer/additive analyses. 

Packaging waste is normally recovered from one of two sources. The first is the waste which is not used by the converter (i.e. the maker of the package) and the second is from the packages which are discarded at the point of sale. The former is relatively free of contaminates whereas the latter may contain adhesives, plastics, staples and other contraries . Many countries, including the UK, have developed very efficient collection and recovery systems for packaging material from wholesale and retail outlets. For example in 1991, the Japanese were recovering almost 70% of corrugated containers from this source. 

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]. 

Electrostatic recovery of paper and plastic packaging waste (ELREC), BRPR-CT96-0247 (European Project)... 

The method chosen for segregation and accumulation of wastes destined for incineration depends on the design of incinerator and its waste-feed mechanism, which vary widely. Some incinerators can handle only bulk liquid wastes, whereas others accept solid or packaged wastes such as fiber packs and glass or plastic bottles a few even accept steel cans or drums. 

Modern science and industry have provided a growing supply of material products. When they reach the end of their useful life, they become solid waste, and disposing of it has become a growing problem. Worst of all is over-packaging to stimulate sales, so discarded packaging is the major contributor to this solid waste. Plastics are not the major component of solid waste but because of their low density, bright colors, and relative weather-resistance, they are the most obvious component. It would be desirable to remove them from solid waste by recycling. 

Separation techniques, for the removal of PVC from other waste plastics, were initially focused on the packaging area involving separation from PET (243). 

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