Natalie Rudolph, Raphael Kiesel, Chuanchom Aumnate
Understanding Plastics Recycling
Economic, Ecological, and Technical Aspects of Plastic Waste Handling
Acknowledgements
7
Foreword
9
Contents
11
Acronyms and Other Abbreviations
15
1 All About the Waste
17
1.1 Municipal Solid Waste— A Daily Companion
17
1.2 Management Methods for Municipal Solid Waste
19
1.2.1 Landfilling
20
1.2.2 Incineration with Energy Recovery (Waste-to-Energy)
21
1.2.3 Recycling
23
2 Plastics—Increasing Value, Decreasing Lifetime
25
3 Plastics Recycling—Conservation of Valuable Resources
29
3.1 Plastics Recycling Methods
30
3.1.1 Mechanical Recycling
30
3.1.2 Chemical Recycling
31
3.2 Recycling Different Types of Plastic Waste
31
3.2.1 Preconsumer Waste
31
3.2.1.1 Manufacturing Scrap
31
3.2.1.2 Dilution Effect
31
3.2.2 Postconsumer Waste
33
3.2.2.1 Packaging Plastic Waste
35
3.2.2.2 Building and Construction Plastic Waste
36
3.2.2.3 Automotive Plastic Waste
37
3.2.2.4 Agricultural Plastic Waste
37
3.2.2.5 Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
38
3.3 Sorting Processes for Plastic Waste
39
3.3.1 Manual Sorting
39
3.3.2 Automated Sorting
39
3.3.2.1 Float-and-Sink Sorting
39
3.3.2.2 Froth-Flotation Sorting
40
3.3.2.3 Near-Infrared Sorting
40
3.3.2.4 X-Ray Fluorescence
40
3.3.2.5 Laser-Aided Identification
40
3.3.2.6 Marker Systems
40
3.4 Plastic Degradation Mechanisms
41
3.4.1 Mechanical Degradation
42
3.4.2 Thermal Degradation
42
3.4.3 Thermal Oxidative Degradation
43
3.4.4 Effect of Degradation on Processing and Service-Life Properties
43
3.5 Contaminants
51
3.6 Conclusion: Technical Feasibility of Plastics Recycling
51
4 Economic Analysis of Plastic Waste Handling
55
4.1 Fundamentals of Economic Analysis
55
4.1.1 Economic Efficiency Calculation
55
4.1.2 Static Economic Efficiency Calculation
56
4.1.3 Profit Comparison Method
56
4.2 Economic Analysis of Landfilling
57
4.3 Economic Analysis of Incineration with Energy Recovery (Waste-to-Energy Facilities)
62
4.4 Economic Analysis of Plastics Recycling
66
4.4.1 Materials Recovery Facility Costs
67
4.4.2 Plastic Reprocessing Costs
71
4.4.3 Revenues from Selling Recycled Plastic
74
4.4.4 Profitability
75
4.4.5 Oil Price as a Factor in Profitability of Plastics Recycling
75
4.5 Conclusion
78
5 Environmental Analysis of Plastic Waste Handling
83
5.1 Environmental Analysis of Landfilling
83
5.2 Environmental Analysis of Incineration with Energy Recovery (Waste-to-Energy Facilities)
85
5.3 Environmental Analysis of Recycling
86
5.4 Conclusion
88
6 Optimization of Plastics Recycling
91
6.1 Optimization I: Reduction of Sorting Processes
91
6.2 Optimization II: Upcycling of Plastic Waste by Blending
94
6.2.1 Additional Costs of LDPE–PP Recycling
97
6.2.2 Additional Revenues of LDPE–PP Recycling
99
6.2.3 Total Profit of Optimization II
99
6.3 Optimization III: Increasing the Recycling Rate
101
7 Plastic Waste of the World: Increasing Potential of Recycling
103
7.1 Plastic Waste Handling in Europe
106
7.2 Plastic Waste Handling in China
111
7.3 Plastic Waste in the Future
116
8 Appendix
119
8.1 Economic Analysis of Landfilling
120
8.2 Economic Analysis of WTE
123
8.3 Economic Analysis of Recycling
125
8.4 Optimization I: Reduction of Sorting Processes
128
8.5 Optimization II: Upcycling of Plastic Waste by Blending
129
Index
131
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