Recycling Postconsumer Plastics: PIA Searches for Solutions

Recycling Postconsumer Plastics  

PIA Searches for Solutions

The Plastics Institute of America met in May to discuss the role of plastics in the new decade … and came up with some interesting problems and solutions.

By Robert J. Garino

Although the title changed for this year's conference, as in the four previous years' sessions, the core discussion explored commercial and technical issues involved with the reuse of scrap plastics. However, speakers broke new ground at this year's RecyclingPlas by addressing source reduction and identifying legislative issues that have an impact on the plastic recycling industry. Other speakers at the two-day seminar, held in mid-May in Washington, D.C., examined new developments in processing mixed or commingled plastic scrap.

Also new this year was concern over the relative softness in the demand these days for virgin resins, coupled with several new virgin polyethylene capacity announcements made this year. However, several scrap plastic processors and consumers insisted that prices for high-quality, processed scrap plastics do not necessarily track virgin resin prices. Rather, according to a few attendees, processed plastic scrap moves in relation to its unique supply-and-demand fundamentals.

In addressing possible solutions for both processing and consuming plastic scrap, several speakers prefaced their remarks by highlighting the scrap plastic position in relation to other materials that make up the U.S. municipal solid waste (MSW) stream. Dr. T. Randall Curlee, of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, estimated, for example, that plastics make up between 7 and 9 percent of MSW by weight, but, when expressed in terms of volumes, discarded plastic scrap may actually constitute between 21 and 24 percent of the total municipal discards. (Figures recently released by the Society of the Plastics Industry's Council for Solid Waste Solutions suggest that the plastics fraction in the waste stream is actually closer to 18 percent by volume.) Curlee estimated that the recycling rate for postconsumer plastics is between 1 and 2 percent and contrasted this to a 25-percent recycling rate for aluminum, 22-percent for paper, and 10-percent for glass. He concluded with a strong implication that plastic scrap recycling has a lot of catching up to do.

Addressing the Issues

Judy Roumpf, publisher of Resource Recycling, Portland, Oregon, opened RecyclingPlas V with an overview of plastic scrap recycling m the context of solid waste management. She expressed concern that postconsumer plastic recycling is caught up in a "maze of solid waste management issues" and, while there is some disagreement about plastic's role as an overall source problem in MSW, she stressed that clear solutions are now required for dealing with the amount of postconsumer plastic scrap generated. In terms of legislative timetables, Roumpf observed, "the clock is ticking." Product bans as one option for dealing with plastic waste remain a very real threat to the plastic industry, she said.

Roumpf also expressed concern over "theoretical recycling vs. practical recycling" for plastics in general, and polystyrene foam in particular. This lack of clarity, she said, has added to the public's confusion over defining the term "recycling"--resulting in what she called a “poor role definition” for the plastic processing industry. Additional issues facing scrap plastic recyclers that Roumpf cited include current "poor economics" for most commodity grades of resin, with scrap values significantly devalued compared with their virgin counterparts, and plastic's low weight compared to its volume.

Although the majority of Roumpf’s lecture brought attention to several-negative concerns facing the plastic scrap industry, she also noted new opportunities unfolding as more companies collect and process mixed rigid containers as well as plastic films. Two of the companies she specifically highlighted were Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, which purchased approximately 20 million pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles last year, and Sonoco Graham Co., York, Pennsylvania, said to be the nation's largest consumer of postconsumer high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Concern about relative scrap values, noted by Roumpf, was also cited by Warren Arseneau, a consultant with E-2 Management Corporation, Georgetown, Ontario. Concerning plastic scrap, he remarked that although base metals, when refined from scrap, command equal value to those metals produced from ores, severe discounts for processed plastic scrap, when compared to virgin resin prices, are commonplace. (Trade presses have reported that reprocessors of scrap plastics are currently selling 99-percent-pure granulated PET at between 35 and 60 percent of virgin PET prices.)

Recycling Alternatives Also Emphasized

Thomas Rattray, associate director of packaging, Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, stressed in his presentation the need to design packaging for source reduction along with recycling. Elimination of certain packaging, he said, "can and must be done." Doing so, he added, can save dollars by reducing total operating costs. There are a variety of ways, noted Rattray, in which packaging can be reduced:

"light weighting, " through material efficiency;

concentrating products;

combining complementary products, such as bleach and soap; and

offering refillable and reusable products.

West Germany, he said, offers a fabric softener that combines two of these reduction features: it's concentrated and is sold in a refillable package.

Regarding recycling, Rattray remarked that the packaging of Procter & Gamble's liquid Spic & Span cleaner is now made from 100-percent recycled PET, and plastic containers for some of the company's other products use 20-to-30-percent recycled HDPE. However, even in his discussion of recycling--which mentioned the successes achieved by other industries, such as the aluminum can industry, through established recycling programs--he said that in many plastic packaging examples, source reduction is more efficient than recycling. In terms of dealing with MSW, he added that most decision makers only consider recycling or landfilling as options for dealing with potential waste, and source reduction is much heralded but little understood.

Rubbermaid's Scrap Demand Exceeds Supply

Dr. Charles Lancelot, technical manager, Rubbermaid Commercial Products Inc., Winchester, Virginia, also spoke at the conference, emphasizing quality aspects of postconsumer plastic scrap as a means of enhancing plastic scrap consumption. Plastics that have been diverted from MSW and processed, he believes, must show the highest quality standards and consistency across a wide spectrum of products in order to win consumers' support. Rubbermaid currently purchases large quantities of scrap HDPE but, according to Lancelot, less dm half of the suppliers meet the virgin resin standards. Since Rubbermaid is not a processor of scrap, he stressed that the material it receives must be "process-ready" for use. Lancelot also explained that his company could and would use more plastic scrap feedstock--if quality standards could be maintained.

Concerning scrap fundamentals, Lancelot noted that usage of scrap plastics is limited, partly due to the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not allow secondary plastics in food packaging applications other than in recycled polystyrene egg cartons. In addition, pigmentation in end products may limit scrap's use because of difficulties associated with cleaning and recycling scrap with high pigmentation content, he said. Nevertheless, despite these and other marketing and manufacturing obstacles, Lancelot concluded, Rubbermaid has set a 1991 goal to use between 5- and 10-percent postconsumer plastic scrap across a broad product line.

The Age of Plastic Recycling

Technical issues that were brought up during RecyclingPlas V included an analysis and comparison of American Society for Testing and Materials specifications for wood vs. plastic lumber, plastic scrap as a contributor of heavy metals in MSW, processes for cleaning postconsumer plastic scrap, and methods for processing polystyrene foam. In addition, speakers from Italy and France shared with attendees their experiences with PET and polyvinylchloride (PVC) recycling in Europe.

Several other talks confirmed the potential for large-scale plastic recycling opportunities in the years ahead. In fact, Dr. Raymond J. Ehrig, chairman of the board of trustees of the Plastics Institute of America, Hoboken, New Jersey, called the "90s the age of plastic recycling." In support of that declaration, some speakers addressed the scrap supply side through curbside collection of postconsumer plastic scrap, while others discussed processing trends. Still others examined end-use markets and the actual reuse of recovered scrap.

Will the '90s prove to be the age of plastic recycling? Assuming a general bias against increased incineration or landfilling, recycling and source reduction remain attractive and popular alternatives for dealing with postconsumer plastics. Attendees of the RecyclingPlas conference, however, were left wondering whether the current economic realities of reclaiming postconsumer plastic scrap--in conjunction with new anti-plastic legislation--might spur manufacturers to take a closer look at source reduction, or, in some packaging applications, seek out competing materials as their own solution for the new decade.

[SIDEBAR]

Are Scrap Specifications a Solution?

Several speakers at this year’s RecyclingPlas V conference emphasized quality issues in postconsumer plastic scrap consumption, noting that the plastic industry lacks recognized standards for processed plastic scrap. Overall cleanliness of scrap was highlighted, as were problems involved with contamination of sorted scrap grades.

Advances in processing appear to be addressing some of the concerns over cleanliness, according to Dr. Sidney Ranking, senior staff scientist for the center for Plastics Recycling Research at Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey. However, he and other speakers voiced special attention over recycling postconsumer PVC when mixed with other commodity grade resins.

Several speakers remarked that for consumers of scrap plastics, the key to successful recycling is found in strict segregation by resin type. Industry spokespersons stressed that even trace amounts of PVC--when mixed with other plastics, such as PET, to be recycled--can damage molding machinery by producing hydrochloric acid. Some manufacturers also noted that while conventional separation systems for commingled plastics are relatively efficient, exceptions are found in commingled PET and PVC. Separation is difficult, they pointed out, because the two resins have nearly identical molecular weights. Furthermore, introduction of PVC in amounts as little as 20 parts per million can ruin processed PET or polyolefins.

Recycling Postconsumer Plastics  

PIA Searches for Solutions

The Plastics Institute of America met in May to discuss the role of plastics in the new decade … and came up with some interesting problems and solutions.

By Robert J. Garino

Although the title changed for this year's conference, as in the four previous years' sessions, the core discussion explored commercial and technical issues involved with the reuse of scrap plastics. However, speakers broke new ground at this year's RecyclingPlas by addressing source reduction and identifying legislative issues that have an impact on the plastic recycling industry. Other speakers at the two-day seminar, held in mid-May in Washington, D.C., examined new developments in processing mixed or commingled plastic scrap.

Also new this year was concern over the relative softness in the demand these days for virgin resins, coupled with several new virgin polyethylene capacity announcements made this year. However, several scrap plastic processors and consumers insisted that prices for high-quality, processed scrap plastics do not necessarily track virgin resin prices. Rather, according to a few attendees, processed plastic scrap moves in relation to its unique supply-and-demand fundamentals.

In addressing possible solutions for both processing and consuming plastic scrap, several speakers prefaced their remarks by highlighting the scrap plastic position in relation to other materials that make up the U.S. municipal solid waste (MSW) stream. Dr. T. Randall Curlee, of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, estimated, for example, that plastics make up between 7 and 9 percent of MSW by weight, but, when expressed in terms of volumes, discarded plastic scrap may actually constitute between 21 and 24 percent of the total municipal discards. (Figures recently released by the Society of the Plastics Industry's Council for Solid Waste Solutions suggest that the plastics fraction in the waste stream is actually closer to 18 percent by volume.) Curlee estimated that the recycling rate for postconsumer plastics is between 1 and 2 percent and contrasted this to a 25-percent recycling rate for aluminum, 22-percent for paper, and 10-percent for glass. He concluded with a strong implication that plastic scrap recycling has a lot of catching up to do.

Addressing the Issues

Judy Roumpf, publisher of Resource Recycling, Portland, Oregon, opened RecyclingPlas V with an overview of plastic scrap recycling m the context of solid waste management. She expressed concern that postconsumer plastic recycling is caught up in a "maze of solid waste management issues" and, while there is some disagreement about plastic's role as an overall source problem in MSW, she stressed that clear solutions are now required for dealing with the amount of postconsumer plastic scrap generated. In terms of legislative timetables, Roumpf observed, "the clock is ticking." Product bans as one option for dealing with plastic waste remain a very real threat to the plastic industry, she said.

Roumpf also expressed concern over "theoretical recycling vs. practical recycling" for plastics in general, and polystyrene foam in particular. This lack of clarity, she said, has added to the public's confusion over defining the term "recycling"--resulting in what she called a “poor role definition” for the plastic processing industry. Additional issues facing scrap plastic recyclers that Roumpf cited include current "poor economics" for most commodity grades of resin, with scrap values significantly devalued compared with their virgin counterparts, and plastic's low weight compared to its volume.

Although the majority of Roumpf’s lecture brought attention to several-negative concerns facing the plastic scrap industry, she also noted new opportunities unfolding as more companies collect and process mixed rigid containers as well as plastic films. Two of the companies she specifically highlighted were Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, which purchased approximately 20 million pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles last year, and Sonoco Graham Co., York, Pennsylvania, said to be the nation's largest consumer of postconsumer high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Concern about relative scrap values, noted by Roumpf, was also cited by Warren Arseneau, a consultant with E-2 Management Corporation, Georgetown, Ontario. Concerning plastic scrap, he remarked that although base metals, when refined from scrap, command equal value to those metals produced from ores, severe discounts for processed plastic scrap, when compared to virgin resin prices, are commonplace. (Trade presses have reported that reprocessors of scrap plastics are currently selling 99-percent-pure granulated PET at between 35 and 60 percent of virgin PET prices.)

Recycling Alternatives Also Emphasized

Thomas Rattray, associate director of packaging, Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, stressed in his presentation the need to design packaging for source reduction along with recycling. Elimination of certain packaging, he said, "can and must be done." Doing so, he added, can save dollars by reducing total operating costs. There are a variety of ways, noted Rattray, in which packaging can be reduced:

"light weighting, " through material efficiency;

concentrating products;

combining complementary products, such as bleach and soap; and

offering refillable and reusable products.

West Germany, he said, offers a fabric softener that combines two of these reduction features: it's concentrated and is sold in a refillable package.

Regarding recycling, Rattray remarked that the packaging of Procter & Gamble's liquid Spic & Span cleaner is now made from 100-percent recycled PET, and plastic containers for some of the company's other products use 20-to-30-percent recycled HDPE. However, even in his discussion of recycling--which mentioned the successes achieved by other industries, such as the aluminum can industry, through established recycling programs--he said that in many plastic packaging examples, source reduction is more efficient than recycling. In terms of dealing with MSW, he added that most decision makers only consider recycling or landfilling as options for dealing with potential waste, and source reduction is much heralded but little understood.

Rubbermaid's Scrap Demand Exceeds Supply

Dr. Charles Lancelot, technical manager, Rubbermaid Commercial Products Inc., Winchester, Virginia, also spoke at the conference, emphasizing quality aspects of postconsumer plastic scrap as a means of enhancing plastic scrap consumption. Plastics that have been diverted from MSW and processed, he believes, must show the highest quality standards and consistency across a wide spectrum of products in order to win consumers' support. Rubbermaid currently purchases large quantities of scrap HDPE but, according to Lancelot, less dm half of the suppliers meet the virgin resin standards. Since Rubbermaid is not a processor of scrap, he stressed that the material it receives must be "process-ready" for use. Lancelot also explained that his company could and would use more plastic scrap feedstock--if quality standards could be maintained.

Concerning scrap fundamentals, Lancelot noted that usage of scrap plastics is limited, partly due to the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not allow secondary plastics in food packaging applications other than in recycled polystyrene egg cartons. In addition, pigmentation in end products may limit scrap's use because of difficulties associated with cleaning and recycling scrap with high pigmentation content, he said. Nevertheless, despite these and other marketing and manufacturing obstacles, Lancelot concluded, Rubbermaid has set a 1991 goal to use between 5- and 10-percent postconsumer plastic scrap across a broad product line.

The Age of Plastic Recycling

Technical issues that were brought up during RecyclingPlas V included an analysis and comparison of American Society for Testing and Materials specifications for wood vs. plastic lumber, plastic scrap as a contributor of heavy metals in MSW, processes for cleaning postconsumer plastic scrap, and methods for processing polystyrene foam. In addition, speakers from Italy and France shared with attendees their experiences with PET and polyvinylchloride (PVC) recycling in Europe.

Several other talks confirmed the potential for large-scale plastic recycling opportunities in the years ahead. In fact, Dr. Raymond J. Ehrig, chairman of the board of trustees of the Plastics Institute of America, Hoboken, New Jersey, called the "90s the age of plastic recycling." In support of that declaration, some speakers addressed the scrap supply side through curbside collection of postconsumer plastic scrap, while others discussed processing trends. Still others examined end-use markets and the actual reuse of recovered scrap.

Will the '90s prove to be the age of plastic recycling? Assuming a general bias against increased incineration or landfilling, recycling and source reduction remain attractive and popular alternatives for dealing with postconsumer plastics. Attendees of the RecyclingPlas conference, however, were left wondering whether the current economic realities of reclaiming postconsumer plastic scrap--in conjunction with new anti-plastic legislation--might spur manufacturers to take a closer look at source reduction, or, in some packaging applications, seek out competing materials as their own solution for the new decade.

[SIDEBAR]

Are Scrap Specifications a Solution?

Several speakers at this year’s RecyclingPlas V conference emphasized quality issues in postconsumer plastic scrap consumption, noting that the plastic industry lacks recognized standards for processed plastic scrap. Overall cleanliness of scrap was highlighted, as were problems involved with contamination of sorted scrap grades.

Advances in processing appear to be addressing some of the concerns over cleanliness, according to Dr. Sidney Ranking, senior staff scientist for the center for Plastics Recycling Research at Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey. However, he and other speakers voiced special attention over recycling postconsumer PVC when mixed with other commodity grade resins.

Several speakers remarked that for consumers of scrap plastics, the key to successful recycling is found in strict segregation by resin type. Industry spokespersons stressed that even trace amounts of PVC--when mixed with other plastics, such as PET, to be recycled--can damage molding machinery by producing hydrochloric acid. Some manufacturers also noted that while conventional separation systems for commingled plastics are relatively efficient, exceptions are found in commingled PET and PVC. Separation is difficult, they pointed out, because the two resins have nearly identical molecular weights. Furthermore, introduction of PVC in amounts as little as 20 parts per million can ruin processed PET or polyolefins.