PRE says biodegradables in the recycling mix causing harm

PRE says biodegradables in the recycling mix causing harm
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Brussels-based Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) says the quality of recycled-content plastic film in Europe is being negatively affected by degradable plastics from Southern Europe.

Even what PRE calls “very low quantities” of degradable plastics that end up in plastic film scrap streams “have a significant, negative impact on recycled plastics,” says the group.

PRE singles out material streams in Southern Europe as posing a quality issue in films with recycled content production because of the higher share of degradable plastics. A trial done on 1,000 metric tons of equally purchased qualities of scrap from Northern European and Southern European suppliers showed “substantial quality discrepancies in the recycled film,” says PRE. The organization did not specify which nations were placed in either geographic category.

The tests were performed on recycled plastics made from scrap containing “98/2 post-consumer quality” converted into a film of 50-micron thickness. Extrusion worked normally with recycled plastics coming from Northern Europe. However, “holes and specks” occurred regularly in the film produced with scrap coming from Southern Europe, says PRE.

To understand the defects and ruptures of the film, samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis and via gas chromatography mass spectrometry. These analyses showed most of the degradation is coming from substances used in production of degradable plastics, says PRE, including starch, polylactide (PLA) and polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT).

“These tests show there is a big impact on the functionality of recycled plastics coming from Southern Europe waste film flows,” states PRE. “Therefore, it is necessary to develop separate streams not only for bio-waste but also degradable plastics in order to make sure that degradable plastics do not enter [scrap] streams of conventional plastics.”

The push toward increasing the use of degradable plastics is expected to make the problem more acute in the future, says PRE. The group is thus asking government agencies to assess the overall impact of degradable plastics on the conventional streams and to develop separate collection for both bio-waste and degradable plastics “in order to avoid putting in jeopardy the efforts of making plastics more circular.”

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Source: Recycling Today
PRE says biodegradables in the recycling mix causing harm
<![CDATA[Brussels-based Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) says the quality of recycled-content plastic film in Europe is being negatively affected by degradable plastics from Southern Europe. Even what PRE calls “very low quantities” of degradable plastics that end up in plastic film scrap streams “have a significant, negative impact on recycled plastics,” says the group. PRE singles out material streams in Southern Europe as posing a quality issue in films with recycled content production because of the higher share of degradable plastics. A trial done on 1,000 metric tons of equally purchased qualities of scrap from Northern European and Southern European suppliers showed “substantial quality discrepancies in the recycled film,” says PRE. The organization did not specify which nations were placed in either geographic category. The tests were performed on recycled plastics made from scrap containing “98/2 post-consumer quality” converted into a film of 50-micron thickness. Extrusion worked normally with recycled plastics coming from Northern Europe. However, “holes and specks” occurred regularly in the film produced with scrap coming from Southern Europe, says PRE. To understand the defects and ruptures of the film, samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis and via gas chromatography mass spectrometry. These analyses showed most of the…