Profitable recycling operations

Throughout the 1960s to the 1980s, the plastics industry gave little thought to sensible ways of disposing of or recovering waste plastics. The issue, however, had shifted into the spotlight by 1991 at the latest when the German Packaging Ordinance came into effect. Taking the lead at that time, Germany was the first country to set up rules for the recovery of plastics waste and establish them on the market.  

In the meantime, many countries in Europe have addressed the issue and developed highly successful strategies for collection and recovery. According to surveys by PlasticsEurope, about 47 million tonnes of plastics were consumed in the 27 countries of the EU plus Switzerland and Norway in 2011, 40p percent for non-durable and 60 percent for durable applications. In the same year, some 25 million tonnes of waste plastics were collected, 40 percent going to landfill and 60 percent being recovered.

The waste from collection systems for used packages accounted for over 60 percent of this, followed by products from the construction, automotive and electronics sectors. Exemplary collections systems are in place in nine European countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Luxemburg (listed in descending order) with collection rates ranging from 99 to 92 percent. At the same time, six of these countries have the highest recycling rates in Europe. Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria with rates of 35 to 26 percent head the field by a clear margin. The remaining collected wastes are recovered to generate energy by incineration.
PET bottles are also amenable to single-grade sorted-waste collection and processing. The spectrum of products made from them range from fibres and films to new bottles. A large variety of suppliers like the Austrian companies Starlinger & Co. GmbH in Vienna, NGR GmbH in Feldkirchen and Erema GmbH in Ansfelden have developed special recycling lines for PET. Gneuss Kunststofftechnik GmbH in Bad Oeynhausen is successful in the marketplace with its MRS extruder, for which an FDA approval has even been obtained.  

In addition, machine manufacturers are contributing various drying systems like the infrared rotating drum from Kreyenborg Plant Technology GmbH in Senden, special filtrations systems for the processing of PET and also crystallisation processes like Crystall-Cut from Automatik Plastics Machinery in Grossostheim. Closed-circuit systems like PETcycle have become established for actually turning old bottles into new ones. In short, PET recycling, achieving a market volume of 1 million tonnes per year in Europe, does indeed work.

Problems facing recycling 

Plastics items of different materials that cannot be sensibly separated constitute a further obstacle to recycling – as do products whose residues are difficult to entirely remove. Problems are also created by post-consumer film wastes, as they manifest a very poor ratio of surface area to contamination and therefore require laborious treatment. According to Michael Scriba, Managing Director of plastics processor mtm plastics in Niedergebra, there are indeed successful recovery specialists, but as yet no established salesAir Jordan XI 11 High