Plastic Recycling

Indra narayan shrestha

1. Background
Solid waste management (SWM) in The Kathmandu Valley faces great challenges not only in
relation to the management system but also in gaining public awareness and participation of
the people. Although organic matter is the dominant the unpleasing effect of scattered plastic
bags is common problem in Kathmandu valley and other Municipalities similar as
Kathmandu.
Due to their insolubility in water and relative chemical inertness, pure plastics generally have
low toxicity in their finished state, and will pass through the digestive system with no ill
effect (other than mechanical damage or obstruction).
But plastics often contain a variety of toxic additives for practicality of use. Traces of these
chemicals can leach out of the plastic when it comes into contact with food chain. Further
more plastics currently in use does not decompose are a big problem.

2. Introduction
Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic
solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically
polymers of high molecular weight, and may contain other substances to improve
performance and/or reduce costs.
The first human-made plastic was invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862; he called this
plastic Parkesine. The development of plastics has come from the use of natural plastic
materials (e.g., chewing gum) to the use of chemically modified natural materials (e.g.,
rubber) and finally to completely synthetic molecules (e.g., bakelite, epoxy, polyvinyl
chloride, polyethylene).
Due to their insolubility in water and relative chemical inertness, pure plastics generally have
low toxicity in their finished state, and will pass through the digestive system with no ill
effect (other than mechanical damage or obstruction).
However, plastics often contain a variety of toxic additives. For example, plasticizers like
adipates and phthalates are often added to brittle plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to
make them pliable enough for use in food packaging, children's toys, tubing, shower curtains
and other items. Traces of these chemicals can leach out of the plastic when it comes into
contact with food.

3. Plastic Identification Code

To assist recycling of disposable items, the Plastic Bottle Institute of the Society of the
Plastics Industry devised a now-familiar scheme to mark plastic bottles by plastic type. A
plastic container using this scheme is marked with a triangle of three "chasing arrows", which
encloses a number giving the plastic type:
Plastic
Identification
Code

Type of plastic
Properties
polymer

Polyethylene
Terephthalate
(PET, PETE)

Common
Applications

Packaging

Clarity,
strength, Soft drink, water and salad
toughness, barrier to dressing bottles; peanut butter
gas and moisture.
and jam jars

Stiffness,
strength,
High
Density
toughness, resistance Milk, juice and water bottles;
Polyethylene
to
moisture, trash and retail bags.
(HDPE)
permeability to gas.

Polyvinyl
Chloride (PVC)

Versatility,
clarity,
Juice bottles; cling films; PVC
ease of blending,
piping
strength, toughness.

Ease of processing,
Low
Density strength, toughness,
Polyethylene
flexibility, ease of
(LDPE)
sealing, barrier to
moisture.

Frozen food bags; squeezable

bottles, e.g. honey, mustard;
cling films; flexible container
lids.

Strength, toughness,
resistance to heat,
chemicals, grease and
oil, versatile, barrier
to moisture.

Reusable microwaveable ware;

kitchenware; yogurt containers;
margarine tubs; microwaveable
disposable
take-away
containers; disposable cups and
plates.

Polypropylene
(PP)

Egg cartons; packing peanuts;

Versatility,
clarity, disposable cups, plates, trays
Polystyrene (PS)
easily formed
and cutlery; disposable takeaway containers;

Dependent
Other
(often
polymers
polycarbonate or
combination
ABS)
polymers

on
or Beverage bottles; baby milk
or bottles; electronic casing.

4. Plastic recycling
The municipal solid waste include the waste generation coming from
residential sources, commercial activities,
institutional, construction
activities and some other municipal services. Municipal solid waste may
include food waste, kitchen waste, broken utensils and equipments,
papers from office, waste from market activities. Beside this, some other
waste such as sand, broken bricks, cement bags along with wood, glasses,
metal scarps etc.
By considering the component composition of waste, solid waste may be
considered as food wastes, paper, cardboards, plastics, textiles, leather,
rubber, glasses, tins and with some other special wastes. The waste may
also be hazardous waste, Medical waste etc. The composition of Municipal
solid waste at LSMC has been found as organic waste (69.84%), Plastics
(9.17), Paper (8.5%), Construction and other waste (4.79%), Textiles
(3.02%), Glass (2.5%), Metals (0.92%), rubber and leather (0.66%) and
wood (0.6%).
Before recycling, plastics are sorted according to their resin identification code, a method of
categorization of polymer types that was developed by the Society of Plastics Engineers in
1988.

5. Applications
PVC- or Vinyl Recycling has historically been difficult to perfect on the industrial scale. But
within the last decade several viable methods for recycling or upcycling PVC plastic have
been developed.
The most-often recycled plastic, HDPE or number 2, is down-cycled into tables, roadside
curbs, benches, truck cargo liners, stationery (e.g. rulers) and other durable plastic products
and is usually in demand.

In India Dr. S. Madhu of the Kerala Highway Research Institute has formulated a road
surface that includes recycled plastic. Aggregate, bitumen (asphalt) with plastic that has been
shredded and melted at a temperature below 220 degrees C (428 F) to avoid pollution. This
road surface is claimed to be very durable and monsoon rain resistant. The plastic is sorted by
hand, which is economical in India. The test road used 60 kg of plastic for an approx. 500m
long, 8m wide, two-lane road.(www.iges.or.jpenltppdfactivity0802_visvanathan.pdf)

6. Environmental issues
Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly; the molecular bonds that make plastic so
durable make it equally resistant to natural processes of degradation. Since the 1950s, one
billion tons of plastic has been discarded and may persist for hundreds or even thousands of
years. In some cases, burning plastic can release toxic fumes. Also, the manufacturing of
plastics often creates large quantities of chemical pollutants.
Prior to the ban on the use of CFCs, the production of polystyrene contributed to the
depletion of the ozone layer; however, non-CFCs are currently used in the production
process.
While containers are usually made from a single type and color of plastic, making them
relatively easy to sort out, a consumer product like a cellular phone may have many small
parts consisting of over a dozen different types and colors of plastics. In a case like this, the
resources it would take to separate the plastics far exceed their value and the item is
discarded. However, developments are taking place in the field of Active Disassembly, which
may result in more consumer product components being re-used or recycled. Recycling
certain types of plastics can be unprofitable, as well. For example, polystyrene is rarely
recycled because it is usually not cost effective. These unrecycled wastes are typically
disposed of in landfills, incinerated or used to produce electricity at waste-to-energy.

6.1.

Toxicity

Due to their insolubility in water and relative chemical inertness, pure plastics generally have
low toxicity in their finished state, and will pass through the digestive system with no ill
effect (other than mechanical damage or obstruction).
However, plastics often contain a variety of toxic additives. For example, plasticizers like
adipates and phthalates are often added to brittle plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to
make them pliable enough for use in food packaging, children's toys and teethers, tubing,
shower curtains and other items. Traces of these chemicals can leach out of the plastic when
it comes into contact with food. Out of these concerns, the European Union has banned the
use of DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate), the most widely used plasticizer in PVC. Some
compounds leaching from polystyrene food containers have been found to interfere with
hormone functions and are suspected human carcinogens.

Moreover, while the finished plastic may be non-toxic, the monomers used in its manufacture
may be toxic; and small amounts of those chemical may remain trapped in the product. The
chemical used to make PVC, vinyl chloride, as a known human carcinogen.
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate, present in plastic wrap based on PVC, is also of concern, as are the
volatile organic compounds present in new car smell. Toxic chemicals allegedly released by
the reuse of water bottles have been the subject of urban legend.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/101/plastic)

6.2.

Bioplastics

Some plastics can be obtained from biomass, including:

from starch film with trigger biodegradation properties for agricultural

applications.

from biopetroleum.

6.3.

Oxo-biodegradable

Oxo-biodegradable (OBD) plastic is polyolefin plastic to which has been added

very small (catalytic) amounts of metal salts. These catalyze the natural
degradation process to speed it up so that the OBD plastic will degrade when
subject to environmental conditions to produce to water, carbon dioxide and
biomass. The process is shortened from hundreds of years to months for
degradation and thereafter biodegradation depends on the micro-organisms in
the environment.

6.4.

Biodegradable plastic

Research has been done on biodegradable plastics that break down with exposure to sunlight
(e.g. ultra-violet radiation), water or dampness, bacteria, enzymes, wind abrasion and some
instances rodent pest or insect attack are also included as forms of biodegradation or
environmental degradation. It is clear some of these modes of degradation will only work if
the plastic is exposed at the surface, while other modes will only be effective if certain
conditions exist in landfill or composting systems. Starch powder has been mixed with plastic
as a filler to allow it to degrade more easily, but it still does not lead to complete breakdown
of the plastic. Some researchers have actually genetically engineered bacteria that synthesize
a completely biodegradable plastic, but this material is expensive at present. The German
chemical company BASF makes Ecoflex, a fully biodegradable polyester for food packaging
applications.( http://www.springerlink.com/content/n651104158x43255/)
It is also possible that bacteria will eventually develop the ability to degrade plastics. This has
already happened with nylon: two types of nylon eating bacteria, Flavobacteria and
Pseudomonas, were found in 1975 to possess enzymes (nylonase) capable of breaking down
nylon. While not a solution to the disposal problem, it is likely that bacteria will evolve the
ability to use other synthetic plastics as well. In 2008, a 16-year-old boy reportedly isolated
two plastic-consuming bacteria. (http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/354044)
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7. Suggested Economic instruments

Steps have to be taken in order to encourage the use and practice of plastic recycling. In many
times it is found that use of new plastic grain for industries is more convenient and
economical than recycle. With this in mind, it is proposed that certain economic instruments
should be introduced:
1. provision of subsidies
2. tax and cost rebates
3. rebates
4. education and raising awareness
5. guidelines
6. restriction in usage of new grain made plastic
7. incentive and health insurance for scavengers
1) provision of subsidies
Considering the cost of installation, maintenance and usage of plastic recycling it is much
higher than that of new one. Steps have to be taken by the government to provide
subsidies to encourage the public to install plastic recycle plant.
2) Tax and cost rebates
Another economic incentive that the government should consider introducing is tax
rebates. This rebate can be offered to manufacturers and suppliers of plastic recycled product.
3) Rebates to owners
Another measure that can be taken to attract interest and encourage plastic recycling is by
providing rebates for the purchase and use of recycled plastic products.
4) Education and Raising Awareness
Campaigns by various related Government/Non Government Agencies and mass media to be
conducted to promote benefit and importance of rain plastic recycling, and utilization. Steps
should be taken to incorporate plastic recycling into school education curriculum. Currently,
Education Ministry has introduced Environment Education in schools. Now it should be
taken to the next step where topics like plastic recycling and waste minimization, should be
included in the curriculum.
5) Guidelines
By providing standardized guidelines, the Government or Municipalities will make it easier
for the investors interested in installing plastic recycling systems. A guideline will ensure that
proper and suitable plastic recycling systems can be installed, Operated and maintained.
6) Restrictions in usage new plastic
The usage of new plastic is restricted some field where it is possible by recycled one.(eg. Pvc
sheet over form work for concreting of slab when low quality form work is in use)
7) Incentive and health insurance
Incentive and health insurance for scavengers may be provided due to their contribution to
save environment.
In the case of protecting our environment we may more than one of the above economic
instruments.

8. References
1. Binaya Raj Shrestha, Aug-2008, Waste management initiatives by Practical
Action Nepal, Practical Action Nepal,Kathmandu, Nepal.
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2. Solid Waste Management for Kathmandu Valley, September 2005, Nippon

Koei Co., Ltd.,Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.
3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The 3Rs in SAsia, C. Visvanathan, 3 R South Asia
Expert Workshop September 2006, Kathmandu, Nepal.
4. www.iges.or.jpenltppdfactivity0802_visvanathan.pdf
5. www.oaktec-environment.com/palstictrials.html
6. www.rokoindustries.com/id26.html
7. www.rti-road-tie.com/id5.html
8. http://en.wikipidia.org/wiki/plastic_recycling
9. http://www.ava.gov.sg/FoodSector/FoodSafetyEducation/Food+Facts/SafeU
sePlasticContainers/index.htm.
10.(http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9440-sugar-plastic-couldreduce-reliance-on-petroleum.html).