Novolex, based in Hartsville, South Carolina, hopes to set an example for recycling plastic bags through its Bag-2-Bag program.
Plastic bags are often notorious in the United States. Many material recovery facilities (MRF) in North America treat them as pollution because they can become entangled in sorting equipment. For more than a decade, some U.S. city and county governments have proposed and implemented taxes or bans on plastic bags to reduce plastic waste and consumption.
However, Novolex in Hartsville, South Carolina saw an opportunity to close the plastic bag loop. The company launched the Bag-2-Bag recycling program in 2006 to reduce the amount of waste caused by plastic bags and turn these old bags into the Novolex Hilex Poly recycling center in North Vernon, Indiana or its recycling center in Indiana New bag for facility. Shawano, Wisconsin. The company also has about six other recycling partners who can help. Phil Rozenski, Senior Director of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Novolex, said the program provides a sustainable solution to the country's plastic bag problem.
Through Bag-2-Bag, Novolex establishes connections with grocery stores and other retailers. The collected bags are collected into bundles and transported to one of the Novolex recycling facilities in North Vernon or Shawano. The recycling center then processes the used bags into recycled pellets. These particles are used to make new plastic bags.
“As a company, we consume more than 100 million pounds of recycled polyethylene film every year,” Rozenski said. "We have handled recycled content well, and we have helped guide other companies to help us meet the demand for recycled content. We hope that we can set an example and more companies will do the same thing-this is what we really identity of."
Novolex has signed contracts with some regional and national retail chains in the United States and Canada. These retailers will collect and pack plastic bags and plastic packaging films from consumers and their warehouses. When a retailer has a trailer full of plastic and film bags, the retailer will notify Novolex that Novolex will hire a company to tow the trailer to one of its facilities or recycling facility partners.
"We determine where to send it based on our workload," Rozenski said. "We work with about six [third-party recycling partners]. Some partners are on the West Coast, some are in the middle of the United States, and some are in the south. Part of sustainability is to reduce the number of items you move, so we think we have two facilities And having partners is essential."
Once Novolex received the bales, Rozenski said the company or its partners loaded them into the bale breaker. "We have a guillotine that can shave off the layers and open the bale. Then, we perform a visual inspection to see if there is anything that doesn't belong. Then it will be torn apart."
A common contaminant is grocery store receipts. To take out the receipt, Novolex puts chopped polyethylene (PE) into the can. The PE floats, while the receipt and any other contaminants sink.
"The magic of polyethylene floating is all it needs," Rozenski said.
From there, Novolex performs an extrusion process and turns the PE film into pellets. Finally, these particles are used as raw materials for plastic bag products. The company's plastic bags usually use about 25% to 40% recycled content.
"We mixed the contents in the bag," Rozenski added. "Usually, we have 30% recycled content. Some are higher and some are lower. We can achieve 100%, but the supply is insufficient. We are studying how to increase our recycled content and are constantly looking for new partners to come. Meet this demand."
To ensure that the pollution in cotton bales is kept at a low level, Novolex regularly communicates with its retail chain partners. Rozenski said the company works with partners to educate them and their employees about pollution.
Through the Bag-2-Bag program, Novolex can accept plastic retail bags, agricultural produce bags, newspaper bags, dry-cleaning bags, cereal box lining, tissue film packaging, toilet paper film packaging, soda and vegetable canned packaging, and air bags in sealed mail packages And Ziploc or other zippered bags (provided that the zipper is removed before recycling).
The program does not accept salad bags, frozen vegetable bags, pet food bags, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyurethane foam, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate trays, plastic bottles, metals or potentially hazardous materials, such as Medical waste.
Rozenski said that the quality of the bales received by Novolex is generally good; however, there is usually a certain degree of contamination. If the company notices a trend, it will educate retail locations.
“Every now and then, someone at the back end of a retail store’s distribution center will see a plastic material, such as a nylon tape, and they will add it,” he said. "We mark these bales. If we find something, we will work with the retailer to educate employees not to put it there, and then it will change."
In order to maintain a good partnership with regional and national retail chains, Rozenski added that it is important to establish contact with four types of people: purchasers who buy bags, operators who collect bags, marketers, and sustainability personnel.
One of the biggest challenges of the plan is to educate retailers that plastic bags do not have to have only one color. Recycled plastic bags are usually not the bright colors that some retailers are accustomed to; because plastic films are mixed together, they are usually gray or brown.
"This is a different color," Rozenski said. “It’s easiest to make tan or gray bags. Once retailers understand that gray or brown bags communicate sustainability, they will understand.
"Working with customers is the key," he continued. "Everyone in the value chain must work together. This is the key to more sustainability. By getting everyone involved, you can solve more complex problems."
The author is the executive editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted at msmalley@gie.net.
Novolex, 800-845-6051, https://novolex.com
Novolex Hilex Poly, 812-346-1066, https://novolex.com/hilex-poly
Danny Schrager is passionate about building connections in the circular economy to promote the future development of plastics.
Name and position: Danny Schrager, President
Company, tenure: GearedforGreen by ESP, seven years
Degree, University: Bachelor of Arts, Business and Marketing from Syracuse University
Danny Schrager has focused on plastic recycling and sustainable development for 30 years. During that time, he helped recycle more than 800 million pounds of post-consumer and post-industrial plastics.
He founded GearedforGreen in 2012. The New York-based company provides a wide range of consulting services to help the company achieve its sustainable development goals. It is worth noting that GearedforGreen has a contract network of recycled resin suppliers who collectively produce more than 1 billion pounds of recycled resin each year and establish contacts with customers who need recycled resin.
The company also helps its customers recycle plastic, increase the use of recycled resin in its products, and manufacture and use plastic packaging in a more sustainable way. In addition, GearedforGreen also assists its clients in implementing education and outreach programs, such as promoting recycling programs, using marine plastics, and participating in beach cleanup.
Schrager said that his passion is to help connect the plastic supply chain in the circular economy and "make plastics develop together sustainably."
Schrager shared his views on the industry in the next Q&A.
How has plastic recycling changed over the years? Some changes have been thought of; one is technology development. This includes the recycling of chemical plastics; this is a very big development that will make a major change in the field of plastic recycling.
And, of course, technological advances in cleaning, washing, filtering, and separation, they are helping us and many others to improve the quality of recycled plastic materials, so they can be used more widely as raw materials in daily manufacturing. Manufacturers are accustomed to using virgin resin, and the quality of the recycled [material] is not as good as virgin resin. Therefore, the better our technology for manufacturing clean recycled particles, the more widespread their applications will be.
You can see that the industry is indeed lagging behind the circular economy to a large extent. More and more interconnected, collaborative, and transparent supply chains are being launched. Once you start creating these circular economies and supply chains, you can start using resources more efficiently. You start designing products in a more sustainable way, taking into account the sustainability of the end use. These levels of innovation are undergoing profound changes.
I also see that some external events that are happening in the market today are having a huge [impact]. This is a rise in consumer awareness. It really helps to promote plastic recycling, especially around disposable plastic packaging and marine plastic garbage, which are huge problems. What's happening today is that consumers at least partially consider sustainability and social value when making purchasing decisions and brand loyalty decisions. You start to see manufacturers, brands, retailers and distributors really listening. They are investing and taking concrete steps to create sustainable plastic solutions. So this is a big change.
China has closed the door to plastic waste, and India is now following this global issue, which has brought short-term challenges to the plastic recycling industry. We have seen that many companies that rely on exporting plastic waste now have to turn to landfills for help.
But I think this may be a glimmer of hope, because in the long run, this may be the driving force for increasing investment in the United States. You can see more innovations and investments in recycling facilities and technologies in the U.S. and our own infrastructure to deal with plastic waste.
What lessons have you learned from this industry? When it comes to plastic waste, the production of recycled resin, and the treatment of pollution, one of the lessons I learned, I think most people in the plastics processing field have learned over time, that is, mixing, mixing and remixing.
Plastic waste, especially post-consumer waste, usually arrives in a package-by-package or even truck-by-truck way very inconsistent. But when you look at it as a whole, it is actually quite consistent. Therefore, for processors that use plastic waste and actually make new recycled materials, the challenge you face is how to make the material consistent? Because consistency is essential for those who use your recycled raw materials to make new products. Mixing, including pre-mixing and post-mixing, can turn inconsistent plastic waste into consistent, sustainable raw materials. In the industry, we call this phenomenon "inconsistent and consistent."
What do you think are the opportunities for plastic recycling? Challenge? Plastic is one of the things that have incredible benefits for humans, such as keeping food longer. However, it is clear that plastics are also causing serious damage to the environment. Almost everyone is aware of this plastic pollution and disposable plastics and marine plastic waste. Billions of pounds of new plastic materials are produced every year, however, 85% to 90% of them end up in landfills, or worse.
I think that in the field of plastic recycling and sustainability, all of us will usher in incredible opportunities. Technology may be number one, including, as I mentioned earlier, chemical recycling. We work with our supply chain partners to utilize incredible chemical techniques, including chemical friction, which allows us to remove and remove all types of surface coatings from plastics-removing external laminates, paint and metal, and printing and Ink-and finish all will not have a negative impact on the physical properties of the polymer itself.
These types of technologies are helping to promote the recycling of millions of plastics that were difficult to recycle in the past.
On the other hand, the challenge for all these new technologies is to ensure that they are cost-effective, especially when compared to virgin plastics. Because, in the final analysis, if the technology cost is too high, the end result will not be cost-effective, and the technology will not be deployed on any broad basis.
For the business world, what is the more compelling argument for sustainability: environmental altruism or economic benefits? In the past, I could easily speak for sure about economics, especially [price per pound] economics. Generally speaking, sustainability must be economically feasible to succeed in the long-term. This is true for industry, and so is consumer purchase.
But I think there is a real argument today that social brand value may ultimately be more important than in the past few years. Social value can indeed play a role in brand loyalty, which can directly affect a brand's top-line revenue and even their ability to obtain shelf space. If implemented properly, social value can surpass the traditional price per pound in many ways.
Therefore, as consumers now make purchasing decisions based in part on the social purpose of the brand, we see that today's social value is of immense importance. This is why you start to see leading retailers, including Wal-Mart and Target, for their entire supply chain and leading brands-Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestlé, etc.-in terms of sustainability and sustainability. A lot of investment. Circular Economy. I think this is because in today's social media world, information, whether it is good news or bad news for brand owners, will spread within a few minutes and can make or break a brand.
So you start to see trends in plastic sustainability, and today's social brand value and environmental altruism may eventually surpass the traditional price per pound economics that everyone was concerned about yesterday.
How important are the concerns about "greenwashing" to you-the environmental claims are not tenable? Very big. One of the important aspects of creating a circular economy is that there is sufficient collaboration and transparency throughout the supply chain. It enables you to track the chain of custody of plastic waste from the source throughout the recycling supply chain, transform it into new raw materials, remake it into new products, and then [then] certify these, measure carbon footprints, etc. Ensuring that you will not participate in any form of green bleaching, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is essentially promoting your sustainability, but in fact they may not be as sustainable as consumers think.
What misunderstandings do you want to debunk about plastic recycling? I want to say that plastic bags-such as grocery bags or retail bags, film or packaging bags-are not recycled and cannot be recycled in North America. Because that is actually completely incorrect. In North America, more and more plastic films and plastic bags are recycled. There is a lot of discussion about the plastic bag ban. We are very active in this field. However, in fact, plastic films, bags and wraps are very recyclable, not just plastic floors and plastic wood. With the advancement of today's new recycling, filtration and cleaning technologies, plastic films, bags and packaging materials are being reconverted into clean recycled plastic resins and remade into new plastic film products over and over again.
North America has more and more infrastructure to recycle millions of pounds of these plastics.
The good news is that although the consumer goods industry and retailers generate a lot of plastic waste—grocery bags, retail bags, stretch wrap, shrink wrap, bubble wrap, and various plastic packaging—these companies also consume and buy as they sell large amounts of brand new Plastic garbage bags, can linings, and commercial shipping bags are all made of the same thermoplastic material. It is an ideal application for circular economy!
Therefore, the key is indeed that the challenge is indeed that we must treat plastic waste as a renewable resource, instead of treating it as waste. We can transform it into brand new products, at least by adding plastic film and Recycling of plastic bags. We focus on technologies and creating formulas that promote circular economy cooperation.
What advice can you give to young people entering this industry? My advice is to become passionate. Young people should not enter the plastic recycling and sustainable development industry solely for their own economic reasons, although this is obviously important. I think that in addition, young people should be involved because they are passionate about plastics, they are passionate about our planet and the environment, and they are passionate about creating positive changes in the world.
Who is your role model? That must be my dad. Before me, my father himself was a pioneer in plastics. He taught me to persevere and work hard, overcome obstacles in life and business, and more importantly, he taught me to persevere and dedication: dedication to customers, dedication to trading partners, dedication to value of long-term partners relation. [He] really taught me a lot about different thinking, innovation and creating solutions, while others think that solutions are impossible. We always believe that we can create solutions.
He has been involved in plastic recycling for many years. He is 80 years old today and retired happily.
What is your most proud professional achievement? I have many great experiences. However, if I have to pick a specific achievement that I am proud of, it may be the plastic sustainability solution that I developed and implemented for Wal-Mart many years ago.
Wal-Mart came to us to help them find a solution for disposable plastic transport hangers. At that time, Wal-Mart was throwing these plastic hangers into landfills—about 1 billion plastic shipping hangers every year—from clothing suppliers around the world.
Disposable plastic transport hangers are very challenging to recycle because they are made from a mixture of many different polymers and cannot be melted together. Plastic hangers are made of polypropylene, polystyrene, and K-resin (styrene butadiene copolymer), which are not compatible in the recycling process because they melt at different temperatures. However, plastic containers are also heavily contaminated and entangled with all types of non-plastic waste—paper, fabric, foam, tissue, stickers, adhesives, metal, rods, clips, and hooks, all of these things.
We design, build and operate plastic recycling facilities ourselves to help Wal-Mart solve this problem. We have established the most advanced plastic recycling business. We have installed a hydrocyclone resin separation system to separate polymers at very high speed and high precision through specific gravity. We have installed a metal and air classification separation system and color classification in a highly automated process, almost without manual labor.
To verify our work, we also measured our own carbon footprint throughout our operations, from sourcing materials to our facilities. We confirmed that our carbon footprint has been reduced by 80% compared to comparable major resins.
We have also obtained FDA (Food and Drug Administration) compliance, and we use recycled plastic resin produced from plastic hangers used by consumers. In order to complete the cycle, in the end, we cooperated with the supply chain and helped Walmart close the cycle, and the products returned to the lawn and garden department stores and other departments made entirely of Walmart plastic hangers. For me personally, this is also a great experience. I might say that this is my most pleasant or fulfilling professional achievement in plastics and sustainability.
Just like the development of materials and packaging design, the recycling industry must also derive value from bioplastics.
We know the benefits of plastic. When evaluated with other materials, they are usually the more sustainable option. Reducing vehicle weight by 10% (usually achieved by using plastic instead of metal parts) can improve fuel economy by 5% to 6%. Compared with plastic packaging that protects and preserves food, the amount of resources required to produce food is 10 times that. Plastic products used in the medical field help improve infection control. However, just because plastics have become the preferred sustainable material does not mean that we should not continue to find ways to improve and solve the unique challenges they face.
As the plastics industry evolves with consumer perception, brand owners’ understanding of the recyclability and recycling of products and packaging, and the complexity of the supply chain associated with reducing environmental impact, sustainability is important. A 2018 Deloitte survey found that two-thirds of shoppers are willing to pay extra for sustainable products. Brand owners such as PepsiCo have publicly committed to a circular vision of the use of their plastics ("Build a world where plastics will never become waste"). Each of these factors plays an important role in optimizing products, influencing material selection, construction, and disposal. This is reflected in the legislative policies of governments at all levels.
In the field of material development, the company has been committed to creating plastics with unique functions and compositional properties. Bioplastics are a class of polymers that continue to spread rapidly. They are either bio-based, which means that they are all or partly derived from renewable raw materials; they are biodegradable in some way, such as through industrial composting facilities; or bio-based and biodegradable.
As a concept, bioplastics are nothing new-the first man-made plastic Parkesine was bio-based, and Henry Ford was known for using corn and soy-based plastics to make auto parts until the second world War. But in the 1990s, the degree of commercialization of bioplastics increased.
Professionals who use these polymers have to consider how they adapt to the existing recycling infrastructure and how to adjust the infrastructure to handle these materials.
For some bio-based plastics, recycling is a relatively simple process because many are chemically the same as traditional plastics. For example, Braskem's I'm Green Polyethylene (PE) is 100% bio-based, and its performance in a material recovery facility (MRF) is no different from fossil-based PE. The Coca-Cola Company’s PlantBottle is another example, which contains up to 30% bio-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET). More than 1 billion bottles have been produced with bio-based PET, and they have no problems for recyclers. But manufacturers of new polymers should keep recycling in mind to ensure that they do not inadvertently damage the recycling system.
New bio-based polymers under development, including polyethylene furan (PEF) and polypropylene furan dicarboxylate (PTF), have physical properties that may give them advantages over other available plastics in certain applications. In particular, these two bioplastics exhibit higher gas barrier properties compared to PET. However, these polymers should not be mixed in large amounts with PET because they may become contaminants in MRF that does not use optical sorting to identify and separate plastics. For example, DuPont Industrial Biosciences, located in Wilmington, Delaware, has been working to prevent interruptions in the recycling flow by reducing the risk of these bioplastic contamination. DuPont Industrial Biosciences and Archer Daniels Midland won the 2017 Bioplastics Innovation Award in recognition of their work in commercializing bio-based PTF precursors.
Although the recycling of some of these materials requires extra care, the benefits and opportunities of bioplastics and bio-based polymers are considerable. Industrially compostable bioplastics have unique advantages in scrapping because they can be completely decomposed by microbial digestion in the same environment as food or yard waste. This means that these products can be used to help move food waste from landfills (which can account for 30% of the landfill volume by weight) to more sustainable end-of-life options, such as industrial composting or anaerobic digestion.
Other compostable products used in food services can also facilitate diversion. In closed-loop systems such as stadiums, airports, and arenas, unanimous selection of compostable food service products can ensure that compostable bioplastics have almost no pollution to the recycling stream, and the compost stream will not be contaminated by non-compostable plastics.
Compostable polymers are not limited to food service applications. First, the food server and compostable bag market is only a small part of the larger plastics industry. Companies that only focus on these products limit their potential growth. In addition to being bio-based, biodegradable or compostable, these polymers also have other properties that can be fully utilized.
A good example of bioplastics that does not have a negative impact on the recycling industry is polylactic acid (PLA). PLA is an industrial compostable plastic used in various compostable products. But the company also produces PLA products outside of this area. Because it has a lower melting point and less pungent odor compared to some alternatives, it is widely used in 3D printing. Companies such as Total Corbion, Gorinchem, and the Netherlands are developing non-compostable grades with higher toughness and heat resistance for other applications, including automobiles.
Nonetheless, these products require a scrap option beyond landfill. For PLA, mechanical recycling is still an option. As a bioplastic that has been commercialized for a long time, the recycling industry is indeed familiar with PLA. A commonly expressed concern about allowing PLA to be included in single-stream recycling is its potential impact on other polymers, most notably PET. However, PLA is no longer commonly used in the form of soft drinks and water bottles, reducing the possibility of confusion caused by manual sorting. PLA can be easily distinguished from PET using near-infrared technology, and it can also be removed by mechanical processes such as air or float separation.
A number of studies have also shown that its presence in the recycling stream has little effect on the quality of the recycled materials produced. The 2016 Wageningen Food and Bio-based Research on PLA and nine other potential pollutants showed that, unlike the extreme effects of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PLA pollution has no specific threat. A 2017 study by the same institute showed that adding 10% PLA to the DKR-310 (German Green Dot Program) film mixture will not have a negative impact on the performance and increased impact strength of the film.
Currently, NatureWorks in Minnetonka, Minnesota has commercially produced PLA for decades. There is a pilot project in Los Angeles to collect PLA from secondary plastic recycling facilities. In addition to manufacturing filaments for 3D printing, the market for recycled PLA (rPLA) is also being developed-Los Angeles Bioplastic Recycling Inc. and other companies aim to use rPLA and manufacture rPLA/wood composite products such as coffee tables and embossed signs.
As the industry transitions from a linear supply chain to a circular supply chain, and pays more attention to sustainable raw materials and a variety of end-of-life options, bioplastics companies are ready to respond, but so are recyclers. For this, they need to consider the current recycling infrastructure to ensure that new opportunities are created for bioplastics without sacrificing other materials.
Just as manufacturers of new polymers should consider recycling, so too should recyclers respond. Systems that are unwilling to accept changes must be satisfied with the stability of existing polymers, which does not reflect the broader community’s interest in new plastics and plastic products. In order to prepare for the future of producing more bioplastics, new identification and processing technologies need to be developed and adopted for current recyclers in order to continue to play their important role. Just like the development of materials and packaging design, the recycling industry must also derive value from these new streams.
All of these require consideration, communication and collaboration. We are in the early stages of this process, which means that now is the time for stakeholders to deliberately explore these new opportunities to ensure that we work together to promote the sustainable development of the industry.
The author is the head of technical and regulatory affairs for the Washington Plastics Industry Association and the head of its bioplastics department. Contact him at pkrieger@plasticsindustry.org.
Bioplastic Recycling Inc., 866-738 7315, www.bioplasticrecycling.com
Braskem, 215-841-3100, http://plasticoverde.braskem.com.br/site.aspx/Im-green
TM-Polyethylene Coca-Cola Company, 800-438-2653, www.coca-colacompany.com/plantbottle-technology
DuPont Industrial Biosciences Department, 319-363-9601, http://biosciences.dupont.com
NatureWorks LLC, 952-562-3400, www.natureworksllc.com
Total Corbion PLA, 31-183-695-695, www.total-corbion.com
Compagnie Plastic Omnium has obtained a patent for a process for removing impurities from post-consumer polyolefins.
Resin purification. A French partner has obtained a patent for a process for removing impurities from post-consumer polyolefins, with the goal of making them suitable for automotive parts that require high-quality surface treatment.
The patent, awarded to Compagnie Plastic Omnium in Lyon, France, three French universities, and a government research institution, describes an extruder with a vacuum pump to remove impurities, such as volatile organic compounds, from milled post-consumer polyolefins And the dissolved salt is preferably polypropylene (PP).
"These contaminants... are degradation caused by aging, temperature, light, and external pollution (such as engine oil or any type of contaminants) during the life of the polymer," the patent states. "They are not only present on the surface, but also in the polymer to be recovered, trapped and/or dissolved in the entanglement of the polymer chains. This explains why simply cleaning the ground material is not enough to remove them, and Why does it need to be extracted."
The patent states that post-consumer resins containing such impurities cannot be used to make painted car parts because they can contaminate paint lines and cause defective finishes.
According to this patent, the post-consumer resin is mixed with a liquid or liquid mixture (such as water, liquid nitrogen or alcohol) in an extruder before vacuum extraction and pelletization.
Post-consumer resin. A patent granted to the Mumbai company describes a recycled resin formulation tailored specifically to manufacture multilayer extruded tubes containing a high percentage of post-consumer plastics. It also covers the manufacturing process of the tube.
The patent granted to Essel Propack Ltd. describes a polymer that contains 80% to 95% recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and the rest is composed of one or more specialized additives to improve sealing strength and resistance. Environmental stress cracking and other characteristics of recycled resin.
The finished pipe consists of three layers: the two layers are mainly composed of recycled HDPE and the original HDPE layer in contact with the material in the pipe.
According to the patent, the invention can help transfer post-consumer plastics from landfills and save petroleum-based raw materials.
Pyrolysis. A method for increasing the output of petrochemical products by processing mixed plastics in a pyrolysis reactor has been patented by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Plastics can include PE, PP, polyurethane, polyester, filled polymers, composite materials, plastic alloys, and rubber.
The process includes a separator to dechlorinate plastics before entering the reactor. The patent claims that in the reactor, plastics are converted into gaseous and liquid streams, which are further processed in the hydrocracking unit, significantly increasing the output of petrochemical products.
Sort. Unisensor Sensorsysteme GmbH, located in Karlsruhe, Germany, has obtained a patent for an equipment that can sort free-flowing bulk recyclable plastics with higher throughput than equipment using conveyor belts or inclined feeding mechanisms, while maintaining a similar footprint. Land area.
The system has a silo that is emptied onto a conveyor belt located inside the guide, which is a conical structure. The conveyor belt pushes the material outward in a 360-degree arc, causing it to fall along the inner wall of the guide device.
Below the guide is an optical scanning device that rotates the beam at a speed of up to 12,000 rpm, so it intersects the falling material flow around it. The reflected light is analyzed by a process spectrometer.
The first group of containers is arranged in a ring below the bottom edge of the guide. Compressed air nozzles are located on the edge of the first group of containers. The spectrometer recognizes the individual fractions that should be sorted from the main stream, and directs the appropriate nozzles to transfer each target fraction to a second set of containers arranged in a ring outside the first ring of containers.
The first Re|focus Sustainable Innovation Award aims to recognize the best in scrap, design and material innovation.
The three companies won the first Re|focus Sustainable Innovation Award from the Washington Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) for their design and material innovation.
Circular Polymers and Broadview Group International (BGI) in Brook Park, Ohio were awarded the scrap category for their rotary impact separators, which separate post-consumer carpets into clean fibers and limestone calcium carbonate particles.
Paris-based Tarkett was recognized in the design category for its Ethos modular carpet with Omnicoat technology, which uses recycled windshield and safety glass.
Dell, located in Round Rock, Texas, won the Materials category for its Latitude 5000 notebook computer, which uses 50% recycled weight in the structural material of the notebook computer shell.
The association received 39 entries from 11 industry sectors in 9 countries.
"The submissions received are creative, and these particular innovations show real promise in commercial applications and show how we can extend these new technologies," said Kim Holmes, vice president of sustainable development at the association.
The judges include members of the association and members of the Sustainable Development Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers.
The rotary impact separator is a patented machine developed by BGI, which can separate post-consumer carpets into clean surface fibers, clean backing fibers and calcium carbonate. This process uses mechanical force to separate the face fiber, backing fiber, and calcium carbonate from the backing material. No washing, chemicals or high temperatures are required.
The separated carpet fibers are used as raw materials for chemical recycling to produce virgin resin. The fibers can also be pelletized or compacted and used for injection molding. Calcium carbonate is used as a filler for road construction and rubber and plastic products.
Circular Polymers obtained the exclusive rights to use rotary impact separators in North America from BGI. Circular Polymers opened a factory in Lincoln, California in 2018, which uses separators to process 30 million pounds of carpet each year. It is estimated that 5 billion pounds of carpets are sent to landfills in the United States and Canada each year.
"We plan to open more factories in the United States," said David Bender, CEO of Circular Polymers. "But incentives are important to make this economically feasible. Outside of California, only 1% to 2% of carpets are recycled in the United States."
The company opened its first factory in California because it is the only state in the United States that evaluates all carpets sold or shipped in that state. Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) increased its assessment fee established in January 2017 from 25 cents per square yard to 35 cents per square yard, and it became effective on January 1. The evaluation fee is collected by the retailer from the consumer and remitted to CARE. The subsidy is paid in the form of a subsidy to the carpet recyclers, such as Circular Polymers.
Although Bender declined to disclose his company's investment in technology licensing and plant construction, he said that Circular Polymers received a $500,000 grant from CARE. It also received a $2 million loan from the California Department of Recycling and Recycling (CalRecycle) to purchase new equipment.
BGI spent more than $3 million to develop this technology.
"Our technology can process all types of carpets: nylon 6, nylon 66, PET and polypropylene," said Joe Bork, president of BGI. "Carpet recycling is carried out by product type, because no one wants to buy mixed polymer products."
The rotary impact separator cuts the carpet into pieces, and the rotating paddle in the machine breaks it into pieces to remove 80% of the calcium carbonate. Another part of the machine further removes calcium carbonate and binders. The machine separates the surface fibers of the carpet from the backing fibers and cleans each fiber type independently. The machine discharges clean surface fibers, clean backing fibers and calcium carbonate.
PureCycle Technologies, a Chicago-based partner of Circular Polymers, is commercializing a patented recycling process that converts plastic raw materials into virgin resin. "Considering that large amounts of raw materials are being landfilled today, Circular Polymers processes post-consumer carpets into raw materials for chemical recyclers. This is not only revolutionary, but [also] it’s an inconvenience for all of us. Confidence model,” said David Brenner of PureCycle, Chief Integration Officer.
Tarkett, a leading manufacturer of commercial flooring, developed Ethos, a high-performance polymer made from polyvinyl butyral (PVB) using previously undeveloped material flows (windshield and safety glass) . Combined with the company's Omnicoat technology, the material is used to make modular tiles, which can replace PVC soft-surface tiles. Omnicoat technology is a proprietary coating that forms a chemical barrier to overcome problems with floor substrates, such as unevenness. It can be used in combination with Tarkett Tape to install Ethos modular carpet tiles on the floor substrate, which previously required time-consuming and expensive testing and floor preparation.
Ethos Modular Carpet Tiles has obtained the Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver (v3) level, which is the first modular carpet tile in the United States to obtain this certification level. Since Ethos is designed with recycled materials and can be recycled through Tarkett's ReStart program, it is an example of a circular economy product.
"The Ethos product line is an exciting development, created in response to important customer partnerships," said Paul Evans, Tarkett's vice president of research and development.
"Our development provides the performance and economics required by our customers, while diverting millions of pounds of previously unusable material from the landfill," Evans said.
Dell worked with a supplier to create a structural material for its laptop casing, made from 50% recycled content by weight. Dell uses 20% post-industrial recycled carbon fiber and 30% post-consumer recycled resin. The material is molded into laptop top covers for the company's Latitude 5000 series of laptops, which are used for commercial purposes and must meet stringent durability requirements.
The author is a correspondent for "Plastic Machinery" magazine and can be contacted at badams@plasticsmachinerymagazine.com.
Broadview Group International LLC, 216-505-5204, www.broadviewgroupllc.com
Circular polymer, 833-466-3878, https://circularpolymers.com
Dell, 877-289-3355, www.dell.com
Tarkett, 800-899-8916, www.tarkett.com/en/home