Plastic Waste Management

Introduction-

Waste is generally termed as a material which is unwanted or unusable. Or it

may be also defined as “substances which are disposed of or are intended to be
disposed of or are required to be disposed of”. The main sources of waste are
i) from community,
ii) from industries,
iii) from agriculture.
Nowadays the waste may it be from community, industries, or agriculture it
mainly consist of plastics in it. Plastics are used in a wide range of applications and
some plastics items, such as food packaging, become waste only a short time after
purchase.
The rapid rate of urbanization and development has led to increasing plastic
waste generation. The quantum of plastic waste in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is
increasing due to increase in population, development activities and changes in the
life style. Recently, plastic waste has attracted widespread attention in India,
particularly in the last five year ,due to widespread littering on the landscape. As
plastic is non biodegradable in nature, it remains in environment for several years
and disposing plastic wastes at landfill are unsafe since toxic chemicals leach out
into the soil, and under-ground water and pollute the water bodies.
Surveys on generation of plastic waste on airports and railway platforms
showed that about 6758 kg/day of Plastics Waste is Generated in these 03 Railway
Stations and about 3662 kg/day at the 02 Airports.
Household dustbins contains up to 7% of plastic waste, the consumption of
plastic is increased up to about 20% more today than we used 50 years ago!

The problems due to more and more generation of plastic waste is creating
many problems thus, it is necessary to find some ways to reduce the effect caused
by it, the basic four steps used are as follows,

Ways to reduce the consumption of plastics the 4 R’s terminology is one of the
efficient one known today.

• The Waste reduction diet involves the 4 R’s approach

 1. Reducing your consumption of resources

This emphasizes on reducing the use of plastic in various

applications where it is of undue importance. This will reduce the use of
energy, raw materials, and will not cause environmental problems.

2. Reusing the resources

Reusing plastic is preferable to recycling as it uses less energy and

fewer resources. In this the plastic waste could be used as fillers to increase
properties of the system where it is been used, also we can produce some
simple articles from plastic films, bottles, carry bags etc with use of any
resources or energy

3. Recycling

Recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste and reprocessing

the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from
their original state. Recycling is an environmentally friendly option available to
manage disposable material. Many process have been found out to recycle
the plastic waste in useful articles by using some traditional techniques

4. Recover

It basically uses in an environmentally acceptable manner, to recover

energy from solid waste that cannot be economically and technically reused
or recycled.
Out of this four techniques the reduction in use of waste and reuse are
the most ecological and economical processes to be carried out as they
include least consumption of energy.

Reuse Is the Solution Or Why Reuse Beats Recycling

Pollution is the biggest enemy of our planet. And in order to stop it people have
invented the concept of 3 R’s. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The last two have been
used by humans for thousands of years and now are like techniques to achieve the
first one, which is our goal and the only way to save the world.
Recyclers have successfully kept materials out of the landfill by collecting,
segregating and manufacturing their collected goods into new products. Recycling,
however, is only the 3rd level of priority in the waste hierarchy. Reusers, on the other
hand, with little or no processing, keep materials out the waste stream by passing
the good they collect on to others.

When reusing materials, instead of creating new products from virgin materials, there
is fewer burdens on the economy. Reuse is an economical way for people of all
socio-economic circles to acquire the items they need. From business furniture to
household items, from cars to appliances, and just about anything else you could
think of -- it is less expensive to buy used than new?

Many reuse programs have evolved from local solid waste reduction goals because
reuse requires fewer resources, less energy, and less labor, compared to recycling,
disposal, or the manufacture of new products from virgin materials. Reuse provides
an excellent, environmentally-preferred alternative to other waste management
methods, because it reduces air, water and land pollution, limits the need for new
natural resources, such as timber, petroleum, fibers and other materials.

For many years, reuse has been used as a critical way of getting needed materials
to the many disadvantaged populations that exist. Reuse continues to provide an
excellent way in which to get people the food, clothing, building materials, business
equipment, medical supplies and other items that they desperately need.

From all ths we can say that reuse is preferable than recycling of plastic waste as it
consumes very less energy and resources.

Reuse has certain potential advantages which can be summarized-

 Energy and raw materials savings as replacing many single use products with
one reusable one reduces the number that need to be manufactured.

 Reduced disposal needs and costs.

 Refurbishment can bring sophisticated, sustainable, well paid jobs to

underdeveloped economies.
  Cost savings for business and consumers as a reusable product is often
cheaper than the many single use products it replaces.

 Some older items were better handcrafted and appreciate in value.

Reuse of Plastic Waste In Construction Of Roads

 A professor of chemistry in a college located in Madurai has discovered a

novel, eco-friendly method by using plastic carry-bags as road construction
material mixed with bitumen, reports newKerala.com.
 A very good alternative in reusing of plastic waste is use of plastic carry-bags,
disposable cups waste tires in making roads which are termed as “Plastic
Roads” `
 From studies they have concluded that when this"non-biodegradable eye-
sore" is mixed with bitumen, the main ingredient of road-construction, gives
stronger roads that remain in their prime form for twice the period as normal
tar roads.

Process of conversion of waste plastic into roads-

The plastic waste (bags, cups, Thermocole and also waste rubbers) made out of PE,
PP, & PS are separated, cleaned if needed and shredded to small pieces (passing
through 4.35mm sieve) The aggregate (granite) is heated to 170 oC in the Mini hot
Mix Plant and the shredded plastic waste is added, it gets softened and coated over
the aggregate. Immediately the hot Bitumen (160 oC) is added and mixed well. As the
polymer and the bitumen are is the molten state (liquid state) they get mixed and the
blend is formed at surface of the aggregate. The mixture is transferred to the road
and the road is laid.

Reuse of scrap tyres

The safe disposal and reuse of industrial and consumer rubber waste continues to
pose a serious threat to environmental safety and health, despite the fact that the
technology now exits for its effective recycling and reuse. Mountains of used tires
confirm the belief that chemically cross linked rubber is one of the most difficult
materials to recycle.The method of reusing of scrap tyres is,
Retreading of tyres

This is one of the efficient techniques in reusing the scrap tyres without any
consumption of energy and resources. In this process tires that are fully worn can be
re-manufactured to replace the worn tread. Worn tires can be retreaded by two
methods, the mold or hot cure method and the pre-cure or cold one. Retreading of
scrap tyres can be done in two different two ways which are,
Mould Cure Method- The mold cure method involves the application of raw rubber
on the previously buffed and prepared casing, which is later cured in matrices.
During the curing period, vulcanization takes place and the raw rubber bonds to the
casing, taking the tread shape of the matrix.
Pre Cure Method:- On the other hand, the pre-cure method involves the application
of a ready-made tread band on the buffed and prepared casing, which later is cured
in an autoclave so that vulcanization can occur.

Process flow sheet of retreading of tyres

Retreading of Tyres

Plastic waste used as filler in construction material-

The universal building material for construction engineering can be made from
plastic waste material from any and all types of plastics and/or from newly made or
fresh plastic materials and is used to make various improved building components,
building elements or buildings. The material is prepared by shredding the plastic
waste into small size and could be directly incorporated into the building material.
The universal building material can contain recycled material from any type of plastic
waste materials or fresh or newly made plastic materials, such as PE, PVC, PP, PS
and ABS, and can be used for building construction above and below ground, as an
additive material in other building materials.
These materials consists the following advantages-
 They are environmentally friendly and do not cause any health problems.
 The material can be combined with other building materials and raw materials.
 These materials have good thermal insulation and sound absorption.
 The volume and weight ratios or proportions of the different types of plastic
materials provided in the recycled material and/or the newly produced plastic
materials can be adjusted to fit each particular application.
 It is also not easily inflammable and has very good heat transfer and thermal
insulation properties.
 It is waterproof, weatherproof, and it can easily be worked with.
 It has also comparatively small financial and economical expenses during the
production and fabrication.

PLASTIC WASTE: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES & CHALLENGES.

Plastics waste is a significant portion of the total municipal solid waste (MSW). It is
estimated that approximately 10 thousand tons per day (TPD) of plastics waste is
generated i.e. 9% of 1.20 lakhs TPD of MSW in the country. The environmental
hazards due to mismanagement of plastics waste include the following aspects:

 Littered plastics spoils beauty of the city and choke drains and make
important public places filthy;
 Garbage containing plastics, when burnt may cause air pollution by emitting
polluting gases;
 Garbage mixed with plastics interferes in waste processing facilities and may
also cause problems in landfill operations;
 Recycling industries operating in non-conforming areas are posing unhygienic
problems to the environment.
 NEED OF PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT
 Plastics have become a major threat due to their non biodegradability and
high visibility in the waste stream. The life cycle of plastic materials ends at
waste disposal facilities. The suitable treatment and disposal of plastic
wastes is one of the key questions of the waste management and is important
from energetic, environmental, economical and political aspects.
SOURCES AND PROPERTIES OF PLASTIC WASTES
 Plastic wastes can be classified as industrial and municipal plastic wastes
according to their origins; these groups have different qualities and properties
and are subjected to different management strategies. The plastics waste
constitutes two major category of plastics; (i) Thermoplastics and (ii)
Thermoset plastics. Thermoplastics, constitutes 80% and thermoset
constitutes approximately 20% of total post-consumer plastics waste
generated in India. Thermoplastics are recyclable plastics composed of
polyolefins such as ; Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Low Density Poly
Ethylene (LDPE), Poly Vinyl Chloride(PVC), High Density Poly Ethylene
(HDPE), Polypropylene(PP), Polystyrene (PS) etc. However, thermoset
plastics contains alkyd, epoxy, ester, melamine formaldehyde, phenolic
formaldehyde, silicon, urea formaldehyde, polyurethane, metalised and
multilayer plastics etc. which cannot be recycled.

Fig. Different ways of Plastic Waste management

 Plastic waste management involves some preliminary operations are required
such as collection of waste from various streams, cleaning and segregation of that
waste for further use.

(i) Collection: Rag pickers plays very important role in collection of various wastes
including plastics. There are two ways to retrieve plastic wastes. The first method
consists of collecting plastics after they enter the municipal waste stream while the
second method involves the collection of plastics before they enter the municipal
waste stream. Most post-consumer wastes (discards from household, commercial
and light industrial sources) end up in the municipal waste stream.

(ii) Cleaning: Materials recycling of household waste plastics is particularly difficult

when they are contaminated with biological residues or, as is usually the case, when
they are a mixture of different kinds of plastics. Technology is being introduced to
sort plastics automatically, using various techniques such as X-ray fluorescence,
infrared and near infrared spectroscopy, electrostatics and flotation. However the
economic viability and practicability of such process in industrial application is not
apparent

(iii) Segregation: In order to recycle municipal plastic wastes, separation of plastics

from other household wastes is required For example, using a wet separation
process. Although MSW separation technologies have been studied extensively, it is
still not possible to classify MSW mechanically and obtain marketable fractions. So
waste separation at the household would be a better option with where household
wastes are separately disposed into three parts:

(i) Combustibles such as paper, kitchen waste, textiles, and wood

(ii)Incombustibles such as metals, glass, ceramics, and

(iii) Plastics.

This waste is further segregated into different groups.

a) Municipal plastic wastes:

 Municipal plastic wastes (MSW) are discarded and collected as household
wastes. The various sources of MSW plastics includes domestic items (food
containers, packaging foam, disposable cups, plates, cutlery, CD and cassette
boxes. fridge liners, vending cups, electronic equipment cases, drainage pipe,
carbonated drinks bottles, plumbing pipes and guttering, flooring. cushioning foams,
thermal insulation foams, surface coatings, etc.), agricultural (mulch films, feed bags,
fertilizer bags, and in temporary tarpaulin-like uses such as covers for hay, silage,
etc.), wire and cable, automobile wrecking, etc. Thus, the MSW collected plastic
waste is mixed one with major components of polyethylene, polypropylene,
polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, etc.

Municipal plastic wastes are heterogeneous in nature. When plastic wastes

are heterogeneous or consist of mixed resins, they are unsuitable for reclamation. In
this case thermal cracking into hydrocarbons may provide a suitable means of
recycling.

b) Industrial Waste:Industrial plastic wastes (so-called primary Waste) are

those arising from the large plastics manufacturing, processing and packaging
industry. It mainly constitute plastics from construction and demolition
companies (e.g. polyvinyl chloride pipes and fittings, tiles and sheets)
electrical and electronics industries (e.g. switch boxes, cable sheaths,
cassette boxes, TV screens, etc.) and the automotive industries spare-parts
for cars, such as fan blades, seat coverings, battery containers and front
grills). Most of the industrial plastic waste has relatively good physical
characteristics i.e. they are sufficiently clean and free of contamination and
are available in fairly large quantities. Industrial plastic wastes are
homogeneous. But For this plastic wastes, repelletization and remolding seem
to be a simple and effective means of recycling.

Any attempt to manage such large quantities of a diverse, contaminated

mixture of plastics in an energy efficient and environmentally benign manner, needs
to be considered using an integrated approach. This would require that we examine
critically the various steps in the life of the plastics such as the raw materials for their
manufacture, the manufacturing processes, design and fabrication of the finished
products, possible reuse of those items, and the proper disposal of the wastes etc.,
in totality.

Such an integrated waste management concept can be done by adopting 5-R

concept i.e. ‘Reduce usage, Re-use, Recycle, Recover and Regulated
disposal’.
Plastics Waste: Environmental Issues and Challenges
The quantum of solid waste is ever increasing due to increase in population,
developmental activities, changes in life style, and socio-economic conditions,
Plastics waste is a significant portion of the total municipal solid waste (MSW). It is
estimated that approximately 10 thousand tons per day (TPD) of plastics waste is
generated i.e. 9% of 1.20 lacs TPD of MSW in the country. The plastics waste
constitutes two major category of plastics; (i) Thermoplastics and (ii) Thermoset
plastics. Thermoplastics, constitutes 80% and thermoset constitutes approximately
20% of total post-consumer plastics waste generated in India. The Thermoplastics
are recyclable plastics which include; Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Low
Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE), Poly Vinyal Choloride(PVC), High Density Poly
Ethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene(PP), Polystyrene (PS) etc. However, thermoset
plastics contains alkyd, epoxy, ester, melamine formaldehyde, phenolic
formaldehyde, silicon, urea formaldehyde, polyurethane, metalised and multilayer
plastics etc. The environmental hazards due to
mismanagement of plastics waste include the following aspects:
❯ Littered plastics spoils beauty of the city and choke drains and make
important public places filthy;
❯ Garbage containing plastics, when burnt may cause air pollution by
emitting polluting gases;
❯ Garbage mixed with plastics interferes in waste processing facilities
and may also cause problems in landfill operations;
❯ Recycling industries operating in non-conforming areas are posing
unhygienic problems to the environment.

Main Features of the Plastics Manufacture and Usage

(Amendment) Rules, 2003

Regulation of plastics waste, particularly manufacture and use of recycled plastics

carry bags and containers is being regulated in the country as per “Recycled Plastics
Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 and as amended in 2003. According to these
Rules:

 No person shall manufacture, stock, distribute or sell carry bags made of

virgin or recycled plastic bags which are less than 8 x 12 inches in size and
having thickness less than 20 microns.
 No vendor shall use carry bags/containers made of recycled plastics for
storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging of food stuffs;
 Carry bags and containers made of recycled plastic and used for purposes
other than storing and packaging food stuffs shall be manufactured using
pigments and colorants as per IS 9833:1981 entitled “List of pigments and
 colorants for use in plastics in contact with food stuffs, pharmaceuticals and
drinking water”
 Recycling of plastics shall be undertaken strictly in accordance with the
Bureau of Indian Standard specification: IS 14534:1998 entitled “The
Guidelines for Recycling of Plastics”
 Manufacturers of recycled plastic carry bags having printing facilities shall
code/mark carry bags and containers as per Bureau of Indian Standard
specification: IS 14534:1998 (The Guidelines for Recycling of Plastics).
 No person shall manufacture carry bags or containers irrespective of its size
or weight unless the occupier of the unit has registered the unitn with
respective SPCB/PCC prior to the commencement of production.
 The prescribed authority for enforcement of the provisions of these rules
related to manufacturing and recycling is SPCB in respect of States and the
PCC in Union Territories and for relating to use, collection,
segregation, transportation and disposal shall be the District Collector/Deputy
Commissioner of the concerned district.

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Film Recycling

INTRODUCTION
The impact of man-made polymers on the environment is a problem of high priority
in most industrialised countries. Mainly due to a build-up of disposed
waste in landfills, and due to campaigns in the press about mistakes made in the
management of waste treatment, public opinion is focusing on this problem. The
fact that the corresponding percentage by volume is higher, due to the low packing
density of wastes, makes the problem more visible. Although “plastics” constitute
not even 10 wt% of the total amount of wastes, both residential and
industrial, found in landfills (see Figure 1), public attention to them is increasing.
A possible explanation1 of such a reaction suggests that there is a lack of
compatibility of plastics with the environment, despite the fact that the majority
of products used in present daily life are made of materials which have also been
manufactured by a chemical process.
The plastic waste in landfills consists of about two-thirds polyolefines, and
only ca. 15% of styrene polymers, ca.10% of polyvinyl chloride, and less than
10% of all other polymers, including poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET).
The largest use of PET is in the fiber sector. PET film and PET bottles represents
only about 10%each of the totalPETvolume produced annually.2 It is also
generally known that the total ECO-balance, considering energy consumption,
atmospheric and water pollution, as well as solid waste content, is by a factor 2
to 5 more favorable for PET film than for its greatest competitors in the packaging
sector, namely glass and aluminium.
In addition, PET is one of the largest recycled polymers by volume,4 because it
is suitable for practically all recycling methods.1 PET recycling by the following
technological processes is discussed below:

1.direct re-use
re-use after modification
monomer recovery
incineration
re-use in a modified way.
DIRECT RE-USE
Over 50 % of the PET film produced in the world is used as a photographic
filmbase. The manufacturers of these materials, mainly Agfa-Gevaert, Eastman
Kodak, du Pont de Nemours, Fuji, Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, and
Konishiroku have long been interested in PET film recovery. An important
motivation for the efforts made by these companies is the fact that photographic
films are usually coated with one or more layers containing some amount of
rather expensive silver derivatives, which have been recovered since the early
20th century, when cellulosics were used as a film base. Silver recovery makes
PET-base recovery more economical.In a typical way of operation, PET film
recycling is coupled with the simultaneous recovery of silver, as represented in
FIG

Combined recovery of silver and PET.

In the first step of the process, photographic emulsion layers containing silver are
washed with, for example, NaOH, and after separation, silver is recovered on one
side, and cleaned PET-waste on the other side.2 Important in this process is that the
washed PET-film scrap is clean enough to be recovered by direct re-extrusion,
although careful analysis remains necessary. Direct recycling of PET-waste in the
molten state, before re-extrusion to PET-film, is of course the most economical
process thinkable, as recovered PET-scrap can be substituted for virgin PET-
granulate without requiring any additional steps. It is well-known that PET in the
molten state gives rise simultaneously to polymer build-up and to polymer
degradation, so that reaction conditions for this process have to be controlled very
carefully in order to obtain an end-product with desired physical, chemical and
mechanical properties, like color, molecular weight, and molecular weight
distribution.

A large number of reaction parameters have to be kept under permanent control

(temperature, environmental atmosphere, holding time in a melt state, amount of
impurities, type of used catalysts and stabilizers, etc.). The order of addition of the
PET flakes is very important. A typical flowsheet of a batch-PET-process7 is
represented in Figure 3. In such a process, the PET-flakes can be added after
polymerization, before the melt enters the film extruder screw (Figure 3, indication 1).
Such a procedure, however, has two main drawbacks:
a highly viscous melt is difficult to filter (to eliminate possible gels or microgels)
resulting low-boiling or volatile side-products cannot be discarded anymore.
Batch process flow sheet.

In order to eliminate these disadvantages, several alternative operation modes have

been worked out in the past. A method to add recycled PET during the esterification
step (Figure 3, indication 2) has been described by du Pont.8 In such a way filtration
can take place in the low-viscosity phase, and volatiles can still be eliminated during
the prepolymerisation phase. Although PET-recycling by direct re-use is by far the
most economical process, it is only useful in practice for well characterized PET-
wastes, having exactly known chemical composition (catalysts, stabilizers,
impurities). Therefore, this process is the most suited for the recovery of in
production wastes, but it may not be ideal for customer-recollected PET-film. An
industrial process for X-ray film-recycling was worked out by the IPR-company9 and
introduced to the market under the name REPET on the basis of a triple motivation:
· availability of the waste chips on a repetitive basis
· suitable purity
· very competitive price.
 PET degradation by glycolysis, methanolysis, and hydrolysis.
Glycolysis can be considered as a method for direct re-use, whereas
methanolysis and hydrolysis are mainly taken into consideration for monomer
recovery, as discussed below.
The du Pont Company published11 many details concerning the glycolytic recycling
of PET. Less costly ingredients than those required for hydrolysis or
methanolysis, and more versatility than direct remelt recycling are quoted as
the reasons for glycolysis choice. Goodyear has also developed the PET recycling
process based on glycolysis which is called REPETE.
Glycolytic recycling of PET, which can be done in a continuous or in a batch
process, is preferentially performed by addition of a PET waste to a boiling ethylene
glycol, which leads to the formation of low-molecular weight intermediates
and eventually to crystallizable diglycol terephthalate (DGT). The rate of
the degradation reactions is primarily controlled by varying the holding time
and temperature, which depends on a choice of suitable catalysts (e.g., titanium
derivatives)and by adjusting the PET/glycol ratio. It is also necessary to
avoid side reactions which might occur, e.g., by adding “buffers” or by keeping
down reaction time and temperature.
The low-molecular weight depolymerizates can be introduced directly into a
polymerization system,preferentially after filtration. In this method, particular
care has to be taken in order to avoid glycol ether formation, which may lead
to PET of inferior properties. The glycolytic degradation can also be pushed to
further completion, leading to DGT-recovery, rather than to direct re-use.
In addition to the glycolytic recovery of PET for production of a new PET-film,
granulate, or monomer (EG and DGT), alternative methods have been described
for the preparation of so-called PETGs (i.e., glycol-modified PET), which can be
used for different purposes.15,10 Depending on the type of glycol (or polyol) used
for depolymerization, and on the nature of dicarboxylic acid used for subsequent
polycondensation, the obtained polyester may be used as a saturated polyester
resin (e.g. for films, fibres or engineering plastics), unsaturated polyester resin,
mixed with vinyl-type monomers, or alkyd resin, where polycondensation is
performed
in the presence of tri- or poly-functional organic acids.
Although this method for producing unsaturated resin, e.g., for use in regular
castings or in fiber-reinforced laminates, has been thoroughly studied by
PET-film manufacturers, it is believed that the method is not currently used in
production.
MONOMER RECOVERY
Although monomer recovery is the oldest recycling method and can be used to
recover PET-waste having a high degree of impurity, it is regrettable that it is
not the most economical method. The earliest methods of PET synthesizing
were based preferentially on the use of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), which
could be better purified than terephthalic acid (TPA), therefore methanolysis is
discussed before hydrolysis. The chemical principles of both processes are already
given in Figure 4.
Methanolysis of PET-waste
The waste is treated with methanol (in a ratio 1/2 to 1/10), usually under pressure
at high temperatures (160-310oC) in the presence of transesterification and
(or) depolymerization catalysts.17 Once the reaction is completed, DMT is
recrystallised from the EG-methanol mother liquor, and distilled to obtain
polymerization-
grade DMT. AlsoEGand methanol are purified by distillation. Eastman
Kodak has been using such a process for recycling of X-ray films for 25
years, and it is still improving the process,18 e.g., by using superheated methanol
vapor, to allow the use of ever more impure PET-waste. Important factors which
have to be dealt with in this process are avoiding coloration and keeping down
the formation of ether-glycols.
Hydrolysis of PET
Although aromatic polyesters are rather resistant to water under atmospheric
conditions, compared with other polymers, they can be completely hydrolyzed
by water at higher temperatures (and) under pressure. For practical purposes,
however, particularly to speed up the process, use has to be made of catalysts.
Acidic as well as alkaline catalysts have been studied and worked out in practice.
Figure 5 gives a flow chart of both processes. While both systems are completely
realistic, their usefulness under practical production conditions remains
controversial. As far as acid hydrolysis is concerned, the large acid consumption
and the rigorous requirements of corrosion resistance of the equipment make
profitability questionable. In addition, the simultaneous (with TPA) regeneration
of ethylene glycol is difficult, ecologically undesirable (requiring the use of
organic halogenated solvents), and not economical. Concerning alkaline hydrolysis,
the profitability is strongly determined by the necessity of expensive filtration and
precipitation steps. To our knowledge, recycling of PET-waste by
hydrolysis is not practiced on a production scale at present. This situation even
persists in spite of the fact that the majority of newer industrial PET-synthesis
plants are based on the TPA-process rather than on the DMT-process.

INCINERATION
Another approach which can be used to recycle plastics, particularly when
they contain a large amount of impurities and other combustible solids (if such is
a case, it is important to keep them away from landfills), is more recently called
“quaternary recycling”, and consists of the energy recovery from the wastes by
burning.21 Research along this line has been performed, particularly in Europe
and Japan, since the early 1960s. Strong emphasis has been laid on an optimization
of incinerators with regard to higher temperature of their operation and reduction
of the level of air pollution.
PET has a calorific value of ca. 30.2 MJ/kg, which is about equivalent to that of
coal. It is thus ideally suited for the incineration process. The combustion of
plastics, however, requires 3 to 5 times more oxygen than for conventional
incineration,
produces more soot, develops more excessive heat, and incineration
equipment had to be adapted in order to cope with these problems.
Several processes have been worked out to overcome these technological
drawbacks.Examples include Leidner’s continuous rotary-kiln process, Baliko’s
process for glass-reinforced PET, Crown Zellerbach Corporation’s combined system
for wood fibre and PET to provide steam to power equipment, and ETH-Zurich’s
fluidized bed system for pyrolysis, especially of photographic film, i.e., in
combination with silver recovery. The latter system raises the additional problem
of the formation of toxic halogenated compounds, stemming from the presence
of silver halides.
Typical operation conditions take place at temperatures around 700oC. At
lower temperatures, waxy side-products are formed, leading to clogging. At
higher temperatures, in turn, the amount of the desirable fraction of
mononuclear aromatics decreases. A representative sample, pyrolysed under
optimized conditions, yields, in addition to water and carbon, aromatics like
benzene and toluene, and a variety of carbon-hydrogen and carbon-oxygen
gases. Studies have been performed1 to avoid formation of dioxines and disposal
of residual ashes containing heavy metals and other stabilizers.
Recycling of Mixed Plastics Waste
Commingled plastics currently represent an estimated two-thirds of today’s recycled
plastics streams. That fraction can be expected to shrink somewhat with the
development of more successful identification and segregation technologies in the
future. However, commingled plastics streams will continue to make up a significant
volume for several reasons: proliferation of grades and types of commodity;
profusion of polymer blends and alloys; contamination of recycle plastic parts with
metals, coatings, and laminates; and practical cost considerations. Mixed plastics
wastes can be divided into two groups depending on their source: mixed plastics
from household or municipal solid wastes and plastics fromindustrial sectors.
The first category (post-consumer mixed plastics) involves the articles that are used
in food, pharmaceutical and detergent packaging, shopping, and others. The majority
of these are composed of films, sheeting, strapping, thermoformed trays, as well as
a variety of bottles for soft drinks, food, and cosmetics. There are mainly five
different polymers—PE, PP, PS, PVC, and PET—that contribute to the total amount
of plastics waste. The composition of mixed plastics can change depending on the
regional habits and the seasons of the year. Also the mode of waste collection can
influence its final composition. The category of postindustrial wastes concerns
articles like the products of the car, furniture, and appliances industries. The problem
of these sectors is a wide variety of engineering materials and a high number of
components employed to build a final system.
Direct Reuse:
A direct solution to the problem of plastics disposal can be the reuse of a
heterogeneous mixture of plastics directly obtained from an urban collection. Today
there are extruders specifically designed for reprocessing post-consumer and
postindustrial waste materials. The waste material can have many forms and can
range in bulk density from approximately 1 to 35 lb/cu ft. The form, bulk density,
moisture content, contamination level, and process-temperature restrictions all affect
the design of the extruder to be used. For example, due to the presence of PVC
resin, the melting temperature must be kept below 2100C and the barrel residence
time must not exceed 6 min. Furthermore, in the mixture, the relatively high content
of semicrystalline polymers like PET, whose melting point is above the processing
temperature, influences the extruder design or the final properties of the
manufactured product. Large injection gates and mold channels must be used in
order to avoid undesirable occlusions in the channels. Standard single-screw
extruders are no longer adequate to recycle or reclaim this wide range of materials in
a cost-effective manner. There are now special extruders designed to process the
lighterbulk- density materials. Low-bulk-density materials are the various forms of
film, fibers, and foams commonly used in the packaging industry. Due to their low-
bulk density, such materials typically require an auxiliary device to facilitate proper
feeding into the extruder throat. There are several varieties of such feeding
mechanisms available .Two of them are a rotating screw-type crammer and a piston-
type ram. The crammer and ram systems both act on the same principle; that is, an
auxiliary feeding device is used to convey and to compact the low-bulk-density
materials into the feed section of the extruder screw. The screw-crammer system
uses a conical hopper with a screw that is driven by a separate gear reducer and
variable-speed drive motor. The output and effectiveness of the crammer are
determined by the screw configuration and the available speed. The ram-type
system, on the other hand, uses a pneumatic ram to stuff material into the screw.
The ram is a piston-driven unit with the stroke timing adjustable by setting a series of
timers located in the control panel. The feed section used by the ram system has an
opening that is 12–14 times larger than that of a standard screw extruder. This
allows low-bulk-density material to flow freely into the feed throat where the ram can
compress it into the screw. Depending on the extruder size, the ram can compact
materials with a force of 2000–9000 psi. Feed materials usually need to be supplied
to either the crammer or the ram system in a chopped form. The size and bulk
density of the chopped particles affect the performance of the crammer and ram, and
thus ultimately the output of the extruder. Both these systems can also be used to
process higher-bulkdensity products. A third method of processing low-bulk-density
materials is through the use of a dual-diameter extruder .This system has two distinct
sections: a large diameter feed and a small diameter processing section. The large-
diameter section acts as a cramming device—compacting, compressing,and
conveying the feed material—while the smaller-diameter section is used to melt,
devolatilize, and pump the extrudate into a die. In the feed section, the screw can
have deep flights, allowing low-bulk density materials to flow freely, while in the
processing section the screw resembles that of a typical extruder. The screw is
available in one of several configuration: single-stage, two-stage, or barrier design.
Depending on process needs, these designs optimize output and raise product
quality. The feed section of a dual-diameter extruder can be equipped with feed-
assist components that in some cases work in conjunction with specially designed
screws to allow processing of a wide variety of feedstocks that are fed to the
machines in roll form. Among these possible feedstocks are loose bags, handle
cutouts from bag making operations, and continuous web products such as blown
and cast film scrap. This ability eliminates the cost of shredding, grinding, and
densification of many materials. A dual-diameter extruder is also capable of
processing materials with a high-bulk density. The crammer, ram, and dual-diameter
systems do not differ widely in equipment costs, or production rates. It is well
established that a strong incompatibility is typical of polymers usually found in
commingled waste (PE, PP, PET, PVC, and PS). This incompatibility gives rise to
materials that have inferior mechanical properties, particularly with regard to tensile,
flexural, and impact strengths. This means a strong limitation of applications, in
particular in the case of thin walls and manufactured products that have to work
under flexural and tensile stresses. However, by adding to the mixture specific
components like other polymers from homogeneous recycling, fillers (talc), fibers, or
promoters (compatibilizers) that increase the compatibility, it is possible to improve
the tenacity or stiffness, product aesthetics, and processability. Addition of glass
fibers, for example, is found [57] to yield products with very high stiffness (e.g.,
elastic modulus Ex2800 MPa with 30% glass fiber), higher than that with talc
(Ex1250 MPa with 20% talc) and far better than that of the original mixture (Ex950
MPa). Addition of LDPE and styrenebutadiene- styrene copolymer, on the other
hand, improves the tenacity (showing, typically, a 30–90%