Postconsumer waste

Figure 5.1 illustrates the industrial recycling of discarded waste into raw material. In municipal waste, postconsumer plastic represents a small percentage however, it occnpies about 25% of the waste stream volume. Recycled plastics can be transformed into pellets which can be used as raw materials to either partially or fully replace virgin material in many plastic mannfactnring operations. 

Groupe TBI is investing about FFr3m to build a 15,0001/ y aromatic polyester polyols plant on a greenfield site at Issoire, near Lyons. The novel, patented process uses postconsumer waste bottles made from PETP as feedstock. PU and modified PIR foams made using the APPs have excellent fire performance and good dimensional stability. GROUPE TBI... 

Davos, 22nd-26th March 1993, paper 14/2. 8(13) ADVANCES IN PRODUCING INDUSTRIAL GASES ORIGINATING EROM POSTCONSUMER PLASTIC WASTE Lackner V Michaeli W Institut fuer Kunststoffverarbeitung (Maack Business Services)... 

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... 

The high sensitivity of XRF for elements of higher atomic weight (e.g. Br, Cl) is of advantage in the identification of plastics in postconsumer waste, and is being used in practice only for separating PVC ... 

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. 

Contaminant removal processes depend on the type and source of secondary fiber to be pulped. Mill paper waste can be easily repulped with minimal contaminant removal. Recycled postconsumer newspaper, on the other hand, may require extensive contaminant removal, including deinking, prior to reuse. Secondary fiber is typically used in lower-quality applications such as multiply paper-board or corrugating paper. 

Every year the U.S. generates about 320 billion lb of what is called municipal solid waste, or postconsumer waste. About 85% of this trash is currently disposed of in landfills. Yet as the amount of solid waste increases—and the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it will reach 380 billion lb by 2000—a third of the landfills are expected to close in the next five years. Many people are concerned that efforts to deal with the growing quantity of garbage are not moving fast enough. 

The center initially concentrated on reclamation and reuse and developed a technology for the reclamation of postconsumer waste plastics. After only two years, CPRR published nearly 25 reports based on its research and held conferences to provide for transferring the technology. "We want to disseminate the information as widely and in as timely a fashion as we can to help develop the infrastructure that will cause plastics to be included in the recycling stream, says Morrow. 

This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper containing 10% postconsumer waste. 

There are two types of recycling processes. One is preconsumer recycling and the other is postconsumer recycling. The preconsumer recycling involves raw materials, products, and by-products that have not reached a consumer for an intended end-use but they are typically reused within an original process. The postconsumer-recycled materials are those that have served their intended end-use and have been separated from solid waste for the purpose of recycling. 

B.A. Hegberg, Technologies for Recycling Postconsumer Mixed Plastics Emerging Plastic Lumber Production, Office of the Univ. of Illinois Center for Solid Waste Management and... 

Municipal waste Residential, commercial, and institutional postconsumer wastes contain a significant proportion of plant-derived organic material that constitutes a renewable energy resource. Waste paper, cardboard, wood waste, and yard wastes are examples of biomass resources in municipal wastes. 

Recovery, and in particular recycling of postconsumer packaging wastes, does not stop further generation of wastes. First, not all the collected material is recycled and, second, the product made from the recycled material will end up being a waste sooner or later as well. As for incineration of postconsumer packages, it may mean a volume decrease of 20 to 40 percent. 

Special collection systems are generally provided for large-scale or commercial postconsumer applications such as for agricultural films, chemical containers, automotive parts, carpets, and polystyrene foam packaging. Since most of the plastic is collected as multimaterial or in commingled forms, the collected plastic waste has to be sorted, separated, and cleaned, and most of this is done at material recovery facilities (MRFs). 

The degradation and transesterification steps are carried out in the first part of the reactive extrusimi. The first results regarding the material properties of the blends demonstrate a successful increase of the characteristic values. This one-step process is a very interesting method for the recycling of mixed PET/PA postconsumer waste. 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste... 

In 1994 approximately 9.2 million metric tons (10.2 milhon tons) of postconsumer glass was discarded in the municipal sohd waste stream in the United States. Approximately 8.1 milhon metric tons (8.9 milhon tons) or 80% of this waste glass was container glass [210-213]. 

Some of the most common sources of recyclate wood feedstocks suitable for composites include [269] (a) primary wood wastes (such as wood wastes from sawmills (b) secondary wood wastes (generated when wood products, such as furniture, cabinets and doors are made) and (c) postconsumer wood wastes (which can include anything from construction and demolition debris to packaging, crates and pallets. Primary and secondary wood wastes are the key materials used for WPC production in the U.S.A. 

It is certainly true that plastics left lying around after use do not disappear from view and such postconsumer waste as foam cups, detergent bottles, and discarded film is a visual annoyance. This is because plastics are not naturally biodegradable. However, to consider this a detriment is a questionable argument. Rather, it may well be considered an advantage. This is borne out by the fact that recycling of plastics materials is now an important field in the plastics industry, not just an activity bom under environmental pressure. 

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