From the 1960s to the 1980s, the plastics industry gave little thought to sensible ways of disposing of or recovering waste plastics but the issue became relevant by 1991 when the German Packaging Ordinance came into effect. Taking the lead at the time, Germany was the first country to set up rules for the recovery of plastics waste and to 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 tons of plastics were consumed in the 27 countries of the EU plus Switzerland and Norway in 2011, 40% for non-durable and 60% for durable applications. In the same year, some 25 million tons of waste plastics were collected, 40% going to landfills and 60% being recovered.
The waste from collection systems for used packages accounted for over 60% 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%. 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% head the field by a clear margin. The remaining collected wastes are recovered to generate energy by incineration.
PET瓶也适合单级排序ed-waste collection and processing. The spectrum of products made from them range from fibers 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, machinery 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 crystallization 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 tons 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 remove entirely. 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 of yet no established sales markets with a Europe-wide reach. Further challenges are posed by non-beverage bottles made of PET in a huge variety of types, which also have limited recoverability. The same applies to plastics from car and electronics residuals.
对于此类挑战，要求处理器和机械制造商提出适当的解决方案。例如，最近，梅克希姆（Herbold Meckesheim）在梅克希姆（Meckesheim）提供了DSD收藏的消费后电影废物的一种解决方案，用于sontheim的废物处理公司WRZ-HörgerGmbh＆Co。kg。交钥匙植物由用于去除多余物质的分离装置，湿的碎屑步骤和塑料板的植物，每年将7,000吨废物转换为自由流动的聚集体，具有高质量密度，可用于生产注射型成型。特别是对于混合分数，Erema与Stuttgart的Coperion Gmbh＆Co。KG合作开发了他们的Corema，这是一条合并的回收和复合线。该单元的特征是其适合多种材料的适用性。根据Erema董事总经理Manfred Hackl的说法，这是一种理想的机器，用于处理可以低成本获得的材料混合物，并将PP非织造废物转换为具有20％滑石粉的化合物，并与添加剂一起处理PET/PE混合物。
Another special solution is the MRS extrusion system supplied by Gneuss to K2 Polymers in the UK for the processing of polyamide 11 regrind. The feedstock comes from deep-sea oil pipes recovered from a depleted oilfield and brought ashore. After decades of service, these pipes are highly contaminated with oil. The Multi Rotation System (MRS) extruder manages to decontaminate and reprocess the high-grade plastics waste in a single step and without chemical washing.
尽管许多流程已经建立，但回收仍然有足够的改进潜力。第一步可能是塑料项目的可回收设计，应密切检查，以期为以后的恢复。用于处理问题废物处理的合适的回收过程和机械解决方案为进一步开发提供了许多可能性。
由蕾妮·巴塞特（Renee Bassett）编辑的信息www.k-online.de
