KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GROUP ASSIGNMENT
PROPOSAL FOR THE RECYCLING OF PLASTIC WASTE INTO POWER ENERGY
BY

DANIEL ANSONG SIAW 6693911 EMMANUEL JACKSON KISI ASARE REUBIN DANIEL BAIDOO BENONY ABORHOR
OCTOBER, 2012

PROPOSAL PREPARED

BY

ESARB COMPANY LIMITED

FOR

GHANA MARKETING PLATFORM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ITEM Cover letter Executive Summary 1.0 2.0 2.1.0 2.2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 6.1.0 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.1.3 6.2.0 6.3.0 7.0 8.0 Introduction Problem Statement The Situation of plastic waste in Ghana Why Recycling Target population Our goal Objectives Methods Methods Considered for the Recycling Mechanical Recycling Gasification Thermal Recycling Equipment and facilities Stakeholders to be involved in the project Evaluation Budget Appendix DESCRIPTION 1 2 3 3 3,4 4,5 6 6 6,7 8 9 9,10,11 11,12 13,14 14 15 15 15 16,17 PAGE

Ghana Marketing Platform Box 578 Accra Ghana 15th October, 2012

ESARB COMPANY LIMITED Box 594 Takoradi

Dear Sir / Madam, PROPOSAL FOR THE RECYCLING OF PLASTIC WASTE IN GHANA Thank you for giving us this opportunity to partake in this noble competition of entrepreneurs. ESARB Company Limited is locally registered by young professionals who are experts in various engineering disciplines. ESARB, specialize in civil engineering and building works but over the years the company saw the sanitation problems in the country and undertook a research in the area of recycling plastic waste the major material that has cause a menace in the major cities of Ghana. However, the lack of funds made it difficult to implement our findings but this competition gives us the chance to push forward this dream. It is for this reason that this company humbly submits this proposal on the Recycling of Plastic Waste. We hope this proposal will be favourably considered. Thank you.

Yours faithfully . Daniel Ansong Siaw (Quantity Surveyor).

Region Population Density EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The need for a clean and serene environment in our communities and cities cannot be overemphasized; the current state of sanitation in Ghana coupled with the plastic waste menace makes it so evident the poor sanitation record of this country. ESARB is a renowned civil engineering and building Construction Company locally registered and has interest in starting a sanitation project. The Company takes great pleasure in presenting this proposal for the recycling of plastic waste to produce power for supply to industries and for domestic consumption in Ghana. The project as a matter of urgency will start from the southern sector of the country where the menace is very critical before subsequently rolling out to the northern sector. The project will see the construction of four (4) recycling plants in four regional capitals namely Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani and Wa. The recycling success would depend on a good collaboration between ESARB and the various Metropolitan Assemblies, Ministry of Environment and National Resources and other stakeholders in the sanitation sector. Funding is anticipated from the Ghana Marketing Platform. The recycling project will create employment for the unemployed youth; make our environment clean, serene and healthy to boost tourism in Ghana. It will also generate enough power to supplement the power energy deficit in the country thereby making load shedding a thing of the past.

1.0

INTRODUCTION

Over the last few decades there has been a steady increase in the use of plastic products resulting in a substantial rise in plastic waste in the municipal solid waste streams in large cities in Ghana especially Accra and Kumasi. The adoption of a more hygienic mode of packaging food, beverages, sachet water and other products brought plastic packaging to replace the existing cultural packaging methods (leaf wrappers, brown paper and metal cup uses) in cities and towns (Adarkwa and Edmundsen, 1993; KMA, 1995; World Bank, 1995; Schweizer & Annoh, 1996). This widespread replacement of the modes of packaging with plastics is an indication of the uniqueness of plastic properties such as versatility, inertness and flexibility, especially in the application areas of packaging. As a result of their unique properties, plastics have become the most favoured packaging materials in commerce with firms making windfall profits and transferring the environmental cost associated with cleaning plastic waste on the general public.

2.0
2.1.0

PROBLEM STATEMENT
THE SITUATION OF PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT IN GHANA

The Organic component of Solid Waste may not be too much of a problem since that

is biodegradable. However, the Plastic Waste component of Solid Waste poses a lot of problem in the Ghanaian environment because it is non-biodegradable and therefore can stay in the environment for a considerable length of time causing all sorts of problems. Currently, the disposal of plastic waste is by incineration and landfill in Ghana, which

is a treat to the environment. The former is not environmentally friendly and sustainable since this may release carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming (greenhouse effect). And the latter is not also desirable since plastic is non-degradable. According to a study conducted in Accra, Ghana by GOPA Consultants in 1983,

Plastic Waste accounts for 1-5% (of net weight) of the total amount of waste generated (Lardinois and Van de Klundert, 1995). The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) comprises of five administrated districts.

The various modes of solid waste disposal by these districts are shown in Table 1(see appendix).

Statistics released by the AMA Waste Management Department and other waste

management bodies indicate that about 9000 tonnes of waste is generated daily, out of which 315 tonnes are plastic related (Amankwah, 2005). In Ghana, drinking water comes in plastic bags and not bottles. These bags now

constitute a major proportion of the plastic waste generated throughout the country. Plastics have replaced leaves, glass and metals as a cheaper and more efficient

means of packaging (IRIN, 2006). Almost all the major gutters in Accra are currently choked with plastic waste and this

has resulted in floods, loss of property and in Ghana recording high rate of malaria and cholera even in the 21st century. The whole country is gradually being swallowed up by the plastic waste menace that

the Ghana government had to declare a recycling war on plastic waste in 2004. This is what was said by the then minister for Local government, we expect recycling to create a healthy environment for tourists, create jobs and save foreign exchange in imports of drugs to fight cholera and malaria that may result from the rubbish heaps (IRIN, 2006).

However, very little has been yet done in this area. Hence the earlier the plastic waste menace problem is tackled the better it would be for the environment and sustainable livelihood.

2.1.1

WHY RECYCLING

Recycling of plastic waste seems to be the best solution to Ghanas plastic waste menace, since it has the following benefits: Recycling Plastics Conserves Energy and Natural Resources

recycling plastics reduces the amount of energy and natural resources (such as water and petroleum) needed to create virgin plastic. Recycling Plastics Saves Landfill Space

Recycling plastic products also keeps them out of landfills and allows the plastics to be 8

reused in manufacturing new products. Recycling one ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space.

Recycling Plastics is relatively easy Recycling plastics has never been easier. Today, 80 percent of Americans have easy access to a plastics recycling program, whether they participate in a municipal curbside program or live near a drop-off site.

Reduced Oil Consumption Manufacturers make plastics from crude oil derivatives or natural gas, so making more plastic consumes an increasing amount of nonrenewable fossil fuel. The amount of oil needed to produce a plastic bottle is enough to fill a quarter of the bottle. On average, according to the Stanford University recycling center, 1 ton of recycled plastic saves 16.3 barrels of oil. Recycling plastic cuts back on oil consumption, thereby helping to extend the lifespan of our remaining fossil fuel reserves.

Saving Energy To produce plastic, manufacturers must chemically alter crude oil derivatives. One common technique is radical polymerization, which typically involves compressing the reactants to about a thousand times atmospheric pressure and heating them to 100 degrees Celsius or above. This kind of technique consumes a considerable amount of energy. Recycling plastic still uses energy, because the plastic must be shredded, cleaned, melted and remolded, but it usually requires less energy than making fresh plastic. According to the Stanford University Recycling Center, recycling 1 ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 5,774 kilowatt-hours of electric energy.

Reducing Waste Plastics are durable; their toughness and inertness are what make them so useful. Unfortunately, they're so durable that they break down very slowly in a landfill When plastics find their way into the environment -- into the ocean, for example -- they can break down more quickly, but they still take a long time to biodegrade; a plastic bottle may take a century to break down, for example, while a plastic beverage holder could take four centuries.

3.0

TARGET POPULATION

This Recycling Project is targeted at all metropolitan assemblies in Ghana, especially the Accra and Kumasi metropolis where this problem is a serious menace. The plastic wastes have virtually choked the drainage system in the urban centers of the country to such an extent that it takes only the slightest of rainfall to precipitate floods in major cities like Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi. Indeed, as captured in the Daily Graphic of March 16, 2005, the recent rains in Accra exposed the havoc being caused by plastic waste. Just an average of one or two hours of rain in Accra on March 15, 2005 led to flooding in certain parts of the city. The same intensity and duration of rain, a decade ago, would not have resulted in flooding. The statistics of the 2010 census clearly shows that Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions have the highest population density (see table 2 in appendix). This coupled with the increasing migration of people into this regions make them more vulnerable as far as plastic waste management is concerned. This is the more reason why this project will be first aimed at these two metropolises before rolling out to the other regions. 4.0 OUR GOAL Reduce the plastic waste menace in our environment Create employment for the unemployed youth 10

The major goal of this Recycling Project is to:

Make our cities clean and serene to prevent any epidemic Reduce the importation of plastic products as well as the cost of manufacturing virgin plastic products

5.0

OBJECTIVES Establishing four ultramodern recycling plants, in the major cities of the country; in Accra, Kumasi, Wa and Sunyani to serve the Southern and Northern sectors of the country respectively within four months. Training a total of 100 personnel to work and maintain the various machinery of the factory in two months. Education of the populace about the consequences of indiscriminate littering will be a going concern of this project. Creating a direct value in plastic waste so as to attract scavengers to collect these plastic wastes from the ground for recycling. This will also attract itinerant waste buyers to start moving from house to house to buy plastic waste.

This project is scheduled to be operational within six calendar months through:

6.0

METHODS 1. Construction of the four recycling plants Conduct a feasibility study on the various equipments and the location of the plants Design the working drawings and prepare a tender document for an International Competitive Tendering to allow contractors to bid for the project. Open, evaluate and select the lowest evaluated tender. Award contract and start the construction of the facilities Monitor the construction to ensure that, the work is completed on time within budget and the required quality. Take over the facility and start operations. 2. Training hundred (100) personnel 11

Below are the details of how the above objectives will be accomplished.

Receive applications from graduates of various tertiary institutions Make a short list of 200 application and interview the respective applicants Select hundred (100) people for the training program after which they begin work at the factory.

3. Educating the populace on the effects of indiscriminate littering Involve both the print and electronic media in sensitizing the public on the plastic waste menace 4. Creating direct value for plastic waste collection Giving a price tag of GH 1.00 per each kilogram of plastic waste collected. A research conducted by the University of Cambridge in their project: Improving Engineering Education in the year, 2005 shows that 200,000 plastic bottles equals 1 ton. By this finding it means that scavengers will have to collect only 20 plastic bottles to earn GH 1.00.

This project will be achieved by the teamwork of following able and competent personnel. NAME Daniel Ansong Siaw Emmanuel Jackson Benony Aborhor QUALIFICATION Msc. Project Management Bsc. Quantity Surveying and Construction Economics HND. Building Technology Member Ghana Institution of Surveyors Msc Structural Engineering Bsc. Chemical Engineering HND. Civil Engineering Member Ghana Preparing all the working 12 ROLE Prepare BOQ for the tender document Valuing the work done and due for payment Advising on the general cost of the Project especially valuing variations Undertaking the Structural design of the factory Advising in the type of machines and equipment to used for the recycling

Institution of Engineers Msc. Built Environment

 Bsc. Architecture HND Building Technology Member Ghana institution of Architects

drawings including elevations and sections for the project Coordinating activities to ensure that the factory is built according to plan Advising on all legal issues of the project

Kissi Asare

Msc. Construction Bsc. Mechanical HND. Building Member Ghana Bar

Law Engineering Technology Association Msc. Accounting Reubin Daniel Baidoo Bsc. Civil Engineering HND. Building

Controlling funds for the project Issuing payments Advising on the best way to finance the Project Auditing the accounts for this project

Technology

6.1.0

METHODS CONSIDERED FOR THE RECYCLING ROJECT

Below are three methods that have been considered by the Project team 6.1.1 Mechanical Recycling

This is the way of making new products out of unmodified plastic waste. The major raw material is industrial plastic waste. This means that industrial plastic waste will now be recycled into the following products:

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 Washbowl road bollard imitation woodpost pallet anti-weed sheeting heat/sound insulating sheeting PVC pipe water butt lid colored box central reservation block parking block duckboard survey and boundary markers bricks cross-ties for steel products video cassettes weight for colored cone plant pots

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The Mechanical Recycling Process

6.1.2

Gasification

Plastics are composed mainly of carbon and hydrogen and therefore normally produce carbon dioxide and water when combusted. The gasification process involves heating plastics and adding a supply of oxygen and steam. The supply of oxygen is limited, which means that much of the plastics turn into hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and water. Sand heated to 600-800 is circulated inside a first-stage low-temperature gasification furnace. Plastics introduced into the furnace break down on contact with the sand to form hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and char. If the plastics contain chlorine, they produce hydrogen chloride. If plastic products contain metal or glass, these are recovered as non-combustible matter.

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The gas from the low-temperature gasification furnace is reacted with steam at a temperature of 1,300-1,500 in a second-stage high-temperature gasification furnace to produce a gas composed mainly of carbon monoxide and oxygen. At the furnace outlet, the gas is rapidly cooled to 200 or below to prevent the formation of dioxins. The granulated blast furnace slag also produced is used in civil engineering and construction materials. The gas then passes through a gas scrubber and any remaining hydrogen chloride is neutralized by alkalis and removed from the synthetic gas. This synthetic gas can be used as a raw material in the chemical industry to produce chemicals such as hydrogen, methanol, ammonia and acetic acid.

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6.1.3

Thermal recycling

In this recycling process plastic waste is recycled into power energy for industrial use. Thermal recycling encompasses liquefaction, gasification and solid fuel. Current widely used methods of power generation from waste incineration are gasification with melting furnace, and gasification with reformer furnace.

Gasification with melting furnace waste power generation first converts waste to gas at a high temperature then uses the emitted pyrolysis gas and char as fuel to turn a steam turbine and generate power. This method turns the burned ash into a solid. Gasification with reformer furnace power generation subjects the waste to pyrolysis, and then adds oxygen to the resulting gas, carbonized solids, tar and other substances. Gas rich in carbon monoxide and steam is recovered and used as fuel for power generation.

The table below shows some countries that generate power from plastic waste and the capacity that each country generates.

Country

Power generation capacity Japan 10,580,000kw Holland 1,800,000kw Switzerland 1,000,000kw Sweden 1,000,000kw France 1,600,000kw Germany 10,000,000kw UK 2,300,000kw USA 28,200,000kw

No. of facilities 210 5 30 3 90 50 11 102

Source: New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO

After a critical assessment of these three methods of recycling and deficit of power energy in the Ghanaian economy, the project team has decided to use thermal recycling process in order to augment the national power energy.

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The Thermal Recycling process

6.2.0

Equipment and facilities for the project The following equipment and facilities will be used in this project 6.2.1. The rotary kiln plus combustion melting furnace 18

6.2.2. Thermal conversion pyrolysis equipment

6.3.0

Stake holders to be involved in this project

The various metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources will be contacted in taking a collective decision for the implementation of this project.

7.0

EVALUATION

In order to have a smooth running of the project after its implementation routine maintenance will be used as a tool to ensure that all facilities are in good condition to ensure they function as expected. Monitoring of the processes from the collection of plastic waste to the recycling in new product will be carried out to ensure that there is a smooth process.

8.0

BUDGET

The table below shows the budgeted cost for the Recycling Project. ITEM Land and Development Building Utilities Plant and Machinery Essential Services Furniture and Fittings Preliminaries and Pre-operational expenses Working Capital Administrative / Management cost TOTAL COST BUDGETED COST (USD$) 10,000.00 7,000.00 20,000.00 1,500.00 3,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 50,000.00

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APPENDIX
Table 1 Households by mode of solid waste disposal and district
Solid waste disposal Collected Burned by household Public dump Dumped elsewhere Buried by household Others Total Population AMA 20.9 6.9 62.7 5.8 3.1 0.7 100.0 364,841 Ga 12.0 24.5 33.9 21.6 7.7 0.3 100.0 119,316 Tema 29.5 11.6 37.9 13.7 5.9 1.4 100.0 105,520 Dangme West 2.1 21.0 37.8 32.8 5.3 0.9 100.0 18,641 Dabgme East 0.4 33.7 32.0 26.2 7.4 0.3 100.0 17,426 All Districts 19.5 12.2 51.4 11.5 4.6 0.7 100.0 625,744

Table 2. Population Density by Region, 1984 2010 Region Area sq km

23,921 9,826 3,245

2010 Population Density

2,328,597 2,107,209 3,909,764 97 214 1,205 102 134 194 58 35 117 37

2000 Population Density

1,924,577 1,593,823 2,905,726 1,635,421 2,106,696 3,612,950 1,815,408 1,820,806 920,089 576,583 80 162 895 80 109 148 46 26 104 31

1984 Population Density

1,157,807 1,142,335 1,431,099 1,211,907 1,680,890 2,090,100 1,206,608 1,164,583 772,744 438,008 48 116 441 59 87 86 31 17 87 24

Western Central G. Accra

Source: 20,570 2,099,876 Volta Ghana Statistical Service Eastern Ashanti B. Ahafo Northern U. East U. West
19,323 24,389 39,557 70,384 8,842 18,476 2,596,013 4,725,046 2,282,128 2,468,557 1,031,478 677,763

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Table 3.How plastics are sorted

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