Sustainable End-of-Life Options for Plastics in New Zealand

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It is expected that the trend towards using compostable plastics will continue. The main issue is contamination between 3 streams: compostable, bio/hydro/photo-degradable, and non-degradable plastics in the recycling process. Scion 27 quoted: ‘The US Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) predicts at least 10% of basic chemical building blocks [in the plastic-making process] will be from plant derived renewable materials by 2020. This will increase to 50% by 2050’. Figure 20: Predicted biological material proportion from total plastic resources (Source: Brochure on Biotechnology, Scion, 2005) 4.2.7 International Developments in Degradable Plastics There have been significant global developments in the degradable-plastics industry. It would be fair to say that all of the largest plastics industries in the leading countries have considered using degradable plastic materials. Companies such as Mitsubishi, DUPONT, Daicel, and Cargill Dow Polymers have all ventured into degradable-plastic projects. ‘EnviroPlastic’, ‘Eco-ware’, ‘Eco-Foam’, ‘Bio-Ace’, and ‘Biopol’ are just a handful of brand names of degradable products that are currently on the market. One example in particular is a company called Mitsui Chemicals, who manufacture a product called ‘Lacea’. This is derived from fermented starch from corn, beet, cane and tapioca. Lacea is similar to polyethylene in terms of processing ability. It is also said to have excellent mould resistance, (which is usually required for degradable materials.) The product also has a low combustion temperature like paper, and superior stability in processing to that of earlier polylactic-based materials. Another example is the largest toy manufacturer in the world, Mattel, who announced in 1999 that PVC would be replaced with plant-based plastics in new products from 2001 onwards. A range of other companies, including LEGO (a brand of toys), IKEA (a Swedish home furnishing retailer), Nike (a brand of sporting, clothing, school supplies and other products) and The BodyShop (a Britishbased international retailer of body, bath, skincare and make-up products) have made similar pledges 28 . 27. Formerly known as the Forest Research Institute 28. Source: http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Plastics.htm 31 Sustainable End-of-Life Options for Plastics in New Zealand
4.2.8 Viability of Composting Plastics The amount of compostable plastics, manufactured in NZ and imported, is predicted to significantly grow over the next few years. Currently these materials are at the early stages of being introduced to the national market, which is a perfect opportunity to put in place systems to collect and compost the plastics at the end of life. Developing standards and recommending procedures for the importation, manufacture, labelling, use, and end-of-life disposal options for these plastics will result in greater consistency in the application of the material, reduced contamination and less plastic going to landfill. It is vitally important to get these systems in place at this stage as these materials are being introduced into the market. 4.3 Energy Recovery 4.3.1 Developments in NZ There are no ‘official’ energy recovery programmes or schemes for plastics in place at this stage. However, some manufacturing companies are said to dispose of plastic via in-house incineration. Research is underway regarding the viability of establishing local and national energy recovery programmes. Canterbury University, for example, has commenced a PhD research project in the Chemistry and Process Engineering Department on fuel production (liquid and gaseous) from used plastics. The project was started in early 2005, and will be able to produce preliminary results by the end of the year; further results are intended to be produced by the end of 2006. Laboratory equipment has been built in the Chemical and Process Engineering department at the University, to conduct the pyrolysis 29 tests. This project is being run in collaboration with a local company in Christchurch and was originally established with the Department of Chemical and Material Engineering at Auckland University. Other companies such as ‘Responsible Resource Recovery’ and ‘Responsible Recovery’ are investigating energy recovery options. Examples of this include incineration either totally or partially with other material such as coal; or the conversion of used plastic material to alternative liquid/gas fuel sources. The former of the two companies is investigating collection systems of agricultural plastic material that could potentially be used as high-volume material for energy recovery. 4.3.2 Pros The advantage of energy recovery as an alternative end-of-life option to recycling is that it saves space in landfills, and can be used to generate power or alternative fuel sources – without using other non-renewable material (such as coal and virgin petrochemicals) for the same purpose. Energy can be derived from certain contaminated plastic materials. 29. Pyrolysis is the decomposition or transformation of a compound caused by heat. Alternative End-of- Life Options 32
Page 1 and 2: Research Project Report Sustainable
Page 3 and 4: Executive Summary The purpose of th
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgements Special thanks are
Page 7 and 8: 4.2.5 Measure of Degradability ....
Page 9 and 10: Introduction In 2003 the New Zealan
Page 11 and 12: Results 1. Plastic Material in NZ 1
Page 13 and 14: From the 2005 PNZ Mass Balance Surv
Page 15 and 16: 2. Statistical Analysis of Plastic
Page 17 and 18: 2.3 Breakdown of Recovered Plastic
Page 19 and 20: 2.5 Breakdown of Colours and Produc
Page 21 and 22: 2.5.4 PVC Approximately 2,412t of P
Page 23 and 24: 3. Assessment of the Current NZ Inf
Page 25 and 26: Figure 16: Implementation of kerbsi
Page 27 and 28: Figure 18: Other material recovered
Page 29 and 30: 3.3.3 Forms of End-Market Material
Page 31: 4.2.4 Cons • The cost of deriving
Page 35 and 36: Strict regulations have been set in
Page 37 and 38: 5. Factors Influencing Recovery 5.1
Page 39 and 40: Commercial recyclers operating unde
Page 41 and 42: 5.9 Key Points Voluntary industry a
Page 43 and 44: Recommendations R.1 Improve Informa
Page 45 and 46: Appendices Appendix 1: Supplementar
Page 47 and 48: Appendix 2.8 Forms of Plastic End-M

Sustainable End-of-Life Options for Plastics in New Zealand

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