Jan 29 2007
The increasing presence, in modern society, of products made out of plastic raw materials has come about in tandem with the technological development of the plastics, themselves. At present, plastic materials are used to manufacture all types of components and consumer goods in industrial sectors as diverse as bottling and packaging, automobiles, the electrical and electronics sector and construction.
The waste from new products has given rise to the definition of procedures for correct management and to technologies for taking advantage of materials and of the energy these contain. However, according to data from the European Association of Plastic Manufacturers), in 2003 61% of plastic waste in Western Europe was still being sent directly to dumping sites. Taking advantage of small amounts thereof is, therefore, at a global level, insufficient and far from the aims laid out by the environmental norms of a European Union that is evermore exigent and strict.
This demand for greater degrees of recycling and recovery of plastic materials waste, together with the fact that the waste is becoming more and more complex, is giving rise to an expansion in the application of conventional recycling procedures and the development of more advanced technologies such as chemical or “feedstock” recycling.
The added value of new technology
Unlike conventional technologies employing mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling does not aim to recover the plastics material but those compounds that make it up. Thus, the prime benefit of this novel technology is enabling savings in the consumption of the raw materials employed in the manufacture of the plastic when recycled and, thereby, enable their re-use for the manufacture of similar products, amongst other benefits. Equally, this technology will facilitate the generation of new secondary fuels for the subsequent obtaining of energy by companies capable of revalue them, such as cement factories, steelworks and electricity generating plants, as well as new, management systems as alternatives to current waste management
Through the breakdown of the polymers by heat, chemical agents and catalysts, feedstock recycling enables the production of a variety of products from oils or initial monomers to mixtures of compounds, fundamentally hydrocarbons, with possible applications such as sources of chemical products or fuels. The processes that can be employed are various: from chemical depolymerisation, gasification, thermal decomposition (pyrolysis and thermal cracking) and catalytic thermal decomposition, to reducing agents in blast furnaces.
In this context, after the acquisition of the latest generation technology, the Area of Recycling and Revaluing at GAIKER-IK4 has launched a new project for the acquisition and generation of knowledge for the development of the technology. With the name REQUIPLAST, the aim of this new research project is to investigate certain advanced processes of chemical recycling and real plastics waste treatment such as polyesters from textile waste, polyamides from out-of-use vehicles or PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) containers.