Sustainable Management and Recovery Potential of plastic

waste from the commercial and private household sectors

Ingo Sartorius/Joachim Wuttke
OECD Global Forum, Mechelen, 25 October 2010

Content
Introduction
Plastics are sustainable materials
Life cycle consideration
Principles of plastics waste management
o 3 Options: mechanical, feedstock and energy recovery
o Cost & environmental aspects
o Conclusion: Divert from landfill

Plastics waste management in Germany

The European challenge
Conclusion

Mechelen 25.10.2010

Plastics are sustainable materials

Building/
Construction

Agriculture

Packaging

Medicine

Electrical/
Electronics

Automotive

Mechelen 25.10.2010

Plastics material management in

products: The use phase dominates
cumulated energy demand
of large household appliances*

Disposal
0,2%

Production,
Transport
9,8%

Product use
90%
*) electric stove, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer
Mechelen 25.10.2010

Source: Report ENV Ministry Lower Saxony

Plastics Value Chain in Europe 2009

data for EU-27 plus CH/NO

Export

Export

Production

Consumption

55 Mt

45 Mt

Export

Industry,
Commerce
(postindustrial)
4 Mt

Consumer
demand

Waste

28 Mt
24 Mt

Import

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Import

Import

Household
(postconsumer)

Source: Consultic

Options for Recovery of Plastics Waste

RECOVERY

MATERIAL RECOVERY

ENERGY RECOVERY

= Recycling

MECHANICAL
RECYCLING
(Plastic products)

DIRECT
INCINERATION
(MSWI)

FEEDSTOCK
RECYCLING
(Chemical raw materials)

ALTERNATIVE
FUEL
(cement, power)

MSWI = Municipal Solid Waste Incineration

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When to choose which option?

Mechanical recycling
by remelting and compounding

Criteria:
pure grade,
clean

Feedstock recycling
by decomposition of polymeric materials
e.g. gasification, blast furnace, hydrogenisation, pyrolysis, solvolysis, de-polymerisation

mixed or
type alike,
soiled

Energy recovery
by incineration with energy recovery
e.g. in MSWI, cement kiln,
substitution of oil/coke in power generation

mixed,
soiled

Waste quality is decisive

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Mechanical recycling is preferred, if

homogeneous,
clean waste
streams
can replace virgin
on close to 1:1 basis

PET flakes from sorted packaging waste

PET bottles

markets exist or
can be developed
when specifications
are met
mixed plastics recyclate

Prerequisite for recyclates:

Technical qualities have to be fulfilled to be competitive on the market; therefore

products containing recyclates usually go in other applications than the original one
PVC recyclate
PE recyclate

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HIPS recycling pellet

PP recyclate

Feedstock recycling and energy recovery

Feedstock recycling

Energy recovery

Principle:

Principle:

Blast
furnace ofof
voestalpine/Linz,
conversion
organic waste AT
into

hydrocarbons and feed them into

plants of chemical industry

Technology examples:

utilising energy resources from organic

waste by direct incineration via co-combustion or substitution of fuel (e.g. SRF)

Technology examples:

Depolymerisation
Gasification
Pyrolysis

Modern incinerators (>65% eff.)

Cement kiln
Power plants

Metal smelters
Blast furnace

Pulp & paper industry

MSWI plant Spittelau/Vienna, AT

Characteristics for both recovery options:

Suitable for mixed, laminated or soiled plastic wastes

Secured emission control and plant safety due to strict permit law
Often in an existing large industrial installation under market conditions9
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Key factors to an optimised

sustainable waste management

Waste quality
Environmental effects
Costs
Amounts for scale-up
Competitive technologies available in the market
Demand for products of waste recovery operations
Regional infrastructure
Legal frame conditions

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10

Feedstock

Mechanical
Input
bottles, films

-60

-54,8

Energy

Recovery

Input
mixed plastics

-50
-40,1

-40
-34

-31,5

-29,3

-30

-28,6

-28,1

-29,8

-26,4

-27,9

-20
-15,9
-13,4

-10
-7,1

-5,2

Landfill
ki
ln
en
t

be
d

Ce
m

n
in
ci
ne
ra
tio
n

bu
st
io
m

Dr
um

-C
o

as
ifi
ca
tio
n
G

ol
ys
is
er
m
Th

ur
na
ce
Bl
as
tf

Co

Ba
se

of

ho
ar
di
ng
s

Pa
l is
ad
es

Pi
pe
s

s
Fi
lm

ttl
es

0
Bo

Energy in MJ/kg recovered plastic

Energy Savings compared to Landfill

Life Cycle Assessment for

Recovery Routes of Plastics Packaging

1. Recovery is better than disposal

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2. No single option can be assigned as best

Source:
kobilanz der Verwertungswege 1995
11
Hyde/Kremer, LCA-Documents 1999

Waste Management Options Economics

mixed, complex
waste

Euro / t

industrial film

Landfill

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Energy
recovery

Energy
recovery

Feedstock
recovery

Mechanical
recycling

waste
incineration

power station,
cement kiln

synthesis
production

of postconsumer waste
(Auto, EE, packaging)
Source: tecpol, UBA

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Landfill is the least preferred option

Large quantities of Greenhouse Gas emissions

(food, bio waste)
Waste of material and energy
resources (metals, plastics )

Consequently:
Extend the recovery of material and energy is key
(recycling, composting, energy recovery)

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Plastics value chain in Germany 2009

Export

Export

Production

Consumption

17,0 Mt

10,7 Mt

Export

>99%
Recovery Industry,

0,9 Mt
Consumer
demand

Waste
4,9 Mt
4,0 Mt

Import

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Import

Commerce
(postindustrial)

Import

>97%
Recovery

Household
(postconsumer)

Source: Consultic 2010 14

Different qualities of waste

Plastics waste
from commercial
end-user collection
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Plastics waste
from private
end-user collection

15

Plastics waste management

in Germany today
Bi-annual statistics by independent
external institute with reputation to e.g. UBA:
CONSULTIC GmbH, Alzenau/Germany
6.000 kt

Plastics waste management in Germany

5.000 kt

recovery

4.000 kt

Amount of recovered plastics

waste raised from 1,4 mio t (94)
to 4.8 mio t (2009)
Recovery market under
competitive environment

total
3.000 kt

Recovery technologies and

routes for plastics waste have
been established

divert
from
landfill

2.000 kt

Recovery of plastic rich waste

streams from 50% (1994)
landfill
to 97% (2009)

1.000 kt
0 kt
1994

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1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

9 dual systems for packaging (all

types) collection from households
17

Post-consumer plastics waste managmt

in Europe (EU-27 plus CH/NO) 2009
Better than
EU average:
Central Europe
+ FR, NO, SE
Below average:
outer regions

> 80% recovery

> 50% recovery
> 20% recovery
< 20% recovery

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18

The comprehensive view:

plastics are sustainable materials

High recyclability
(Metals dominate)
Past

Target: Safeguard functionality

Low recyclability

(complex products lead to high

expenditure by dismantling)
Goal: Sustainability of products
along its life cycle
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Future

Target: Optimal mix from

- Functionality
- Price
- Safety, comfort
- Saving of fuel
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& Emissions

Knowledge Transfer Project

of PlasticsEurope
Contribute to sustainable waste management of end-of-life products
containing plastics by utilising its material and energy resources
Focus on countries with window-of-opportunity
by identification via country assessment
Todays focus is France, Poland, Spain and UK,
while further countries emerge
Use the know-how about plastics waste management and
make it effective locally
-

Establish relationships with stakeholders in value chain

Support to dialogue and networking
Contribute to information and education
Use communication channels (conferences, media, publication etc)
Provide technical support

For discussion:
interest and further support and development by OECD ?
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Mechelen 25.10.2010

Joachim Wuttke
Umweltbundesamt
Tel. +49 340 2103 3459
joachim.wuttke@uba.de

Ingo Sartorius
PlasticsEurope
Tel. +49 69 2556 1309
ingo.sartorius@plasticseurope.org
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