Types of polymer processing. Utilization of polymeric materials used in construction. PA Waste Recycling Methods

Removal, processing and disposal of waste from 1 to 5 hazard class

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In Russia, the level of production and consumption of polymeric materials is relatively low compared to other developed countries of the world. Recycling of polymers is carried out only by 30% of the total volume of the material. This is very little, given the total amount of waste of this type.

A little about polymer products

Almost half of all polymers are in packaging. This use of polymeric materials is determined not only by the aesthetic appearance of the product, but also by the safety of the product in the package. Polymer waste is generated in significant quantities - about 3.3 million tons. This number is increasing by about 5% annually.

The main types of polymer waste are represented by the following materials:

• Polyethylene materials - 34%
• PET - 20%
• Laminated paper - 17%
• PVC - 14%. Polystyrene - 8%
• Polypropylene - 7%

Utilization of the main volume of plastic consists in burial in the soil or incineration. However, such methods are unacceptable from an environmental point of view. When materials are buried, soil poisoning occurs due to the presence of harmful substances in the composition. Also, during combustion, toxic substances are released into the atmosphere, which subsequently breathe all living things.

The processing of polymeric materials using new technologies is developing poorly for the following reasons:

1. Absence in the state of the necessary regulatory and technical conditions and production facilities for the creation of high-quality secondary raw materials. For this reason, the secondary polymer raw materials created from waste are characterized by low quality.
2. The resulting products have low competitiveness.
3. High cost of plastics recycling - the cost estimate for this activity showed that it takes about 8 times more money for processing than for household waste.
4. The low level of collection and processing of such material due to the lack of economic conditions and legislative support.
5. Lack of information base regarding the issue of recycling and separate collection of waste. Few people are aware that polymer recycling is a great alternative to petroleum in manufacturing.

Classification

There are 3 main types of polymer waste:

1. Technological - include two groups: removable and non-removable. The first type is represented by defective products, which are subsequently immediately processed into another product. The second variety is all kinds of waste in the production of polymers, they are also eliminated through processing and manufacturing of new products.
2. Public consumption waste is all garbage related to people's daily lives, which is usually thrown away with food waste. The introduction of the habit of collecting garbage in separate bags and also throwing it separately could greatly facilitate the solution of the problem of recycling.
3. Industrial consumption waste - this type contains secondary polymers suitable for processing due to the low level of pollution. These include all packaging products, bags, tires, etc. - all this is written off due to deformation or failure. They are readily accepted by processing enterprises.

Recovery and recycling chain

Extraction and processing of polymer waste is carried out according to the specified technological chain:

1. Organization of points that accept secondary polymer raw materials. In these points, primary sorting is carried out, as well as pressing of raw materials.
2. Collection of material at landfills legally or illegally engaged in the processing of secondary raw materials.
3. The entry of raw materials to the market after preliminary sorting at special waste processing points.
4. Purchase by processing companies of material from large shopping malls. Such recyclables are less polluted and subject to minor sorting.
5. Collection of recyclables through the implementation of the program required to perform separate waste collection. The program is being implemented at a low level due to the lack of activity of citizens. People without a fixed place of residence perform acts of vandalism, which consist in breaking containers intended for separate collection of waste.
6. Preliminary processing of waste polymers.

Processing of polymers begins in the processing industry. It consists of a number of actions:

• Perform coarse sorting for mixed waste.
• Further grinding of recyclables.
• Performing mixed waste separation.
• Washing.
• Drying.
• granulation process.

Not all residents of the Russian Federation are aware of the benefits of recycling. Polymeric materials will not only bring a small income if they are regularly handed over to processing plants, but also save the environment from hazardous substances released during the decomposition of polymeric materials.

Equipment for the processing of polymer waste

The whole complex for processing the necessary raw materials includes:

1. Washing line.
2. extruder.
3. Necessary belt conveyors.
4. Shredders - grind almost all types of polymer products, belong to the first stage.
5. Crusher - they are classified as the second stage of shredders, they are used after using a shredder.
6. Mixers and dispensers.
7. Agglomerators.
8. Sieve substitutes.
9. Granulation lines or granulators.
10. Finished product post-processing machine.
11. Dryer.
12. Dosing device.
13. Refrigerators.
14. Press.
15. Moika.

At present, the production of crushed polymeric materials, the so-called "flaks", is especially important. For their manufacture, a modern installation is used - a crusher for polymers. Most entrepreneurs do not even think about purchasing processing equipment, considering this service to be expensive. However, in reality, it pays off entirely in about 2-3 years of use.

Recycling technology

The most common technology for processing waste polymers is extrusion. This method consists in continuously forcing the molten raw material through a special forming head. With the help of the output channel, the profile of the future product is determined.

Thanks to the implementation of processing in this way, from recycled materials they receive:

• Hoses.
• Pipes.
• Siding.
• Insulation for wires.
• capillaries.
• Multilayer moldings.

Through extrusion, the recycling of polymer raw materials is carried out, as well as granulation. Granulation of polymers allows efficient use of secondary raw materials in various fields of human activity. Waste polymers contribute to the entry into the market of a large number of new products made by recycling. For the implementation of the extrusion process, special equipment is used - a screw extruder.

The technology for processing waste polymers is as follows:

• Melting of the polymer material in the extruder.
• Plasticization.
• Injection into the head.
• Exit through the forming head.

For the processing of plastics in production, different types of extrusion equipment are used:

1. Screwless. The mass is pressed into the head using a specially shaped disc.
2. Disk. They are used when it is necessary to achieve improved mixing of the constituent components of the mixture.
3. Combined extruders. The working device combines the screw and disk parts of the mechanism. It is used when creating products that require high accuracy of geometric dimensions.

The use of waste polymer materials as a secondary raw material helps not only to reduce the amount of waste stored at landfills, but also significantly reduce the amount of electricity consumed and petroleum products used to manufacture polymer products.

To effectively address this issue, the authorities need to inform citizens about the benefits of separate waste collection and processing of all types in order to further produce products necessary for various purposes, including household ones.

Recycling of polymers in Russia is becoming more and more promising. The number of projects for separate collection of waste is increasing, and products made using such materials are widely used in various industries. However, the development of the market is still hindered by a number of factors.

On February 16, the Fourth International Conference "Polymer Recycling 2018" was held in Moscow. The partners are Viscotec and KRONES, the general media partner is the Polymer Materials magazine. The event was supported by INTRATOOL, EREMA and PETplanet.

General Director of INVENTRA Rafael Grigoryan, welcoming the participants, noted that in the future regional operators can become the largest players in the segment of polymer recycling. Their main source of income today is the waste management tariff paid by the population, but the volume of incoming funds may not be enough to make a profit. In this regard, regional operators with an extensive resource base are interested in sorting, processing and producing goods from recycled materials in order to extract the maximum benefit.

The discussion of the state of affairs in the segment began with a speech by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Clean City Group of Companies, Polina Vergun, who said that the area of ​​waste management in Russia is as follows: 5% is sent for processing, 10% goes to landfills that meet environmental requirements, and 85% end up at facilities that do not provide environmental safety.

Among the main problems of the industry, Ms. Vergun singled out: the placement of waste in unauthorized landfills and the lack of a sufficient number of waste management facilities. And the main difficulties in the recycling segment are the lack of sorting and processing capacities, the fragmentation of the market and the underdevelopment of the separate collection system.

The solution to the above problems, according to the speaker, has already been found: the introduction of the institute of a regional operator in the field of waste management, a ban on the disposal of individual components and an increase in the rates and standards of the environmental fee. The expert also noted that the participation of small businesses in the organization of waste management activities is important.

“Given the ongoing waste management reform, it is important to start building federal ecotechnoparks that process secondary raw materials, which will be taken from the regional technoparks that are currently being commissioned today, because the existing processing capacities will not be enough for the volumes of recyclables in the new system, - continued Ms. Vergun, - within its framework, interaction takes place at the level of regional and federal eco-technoparks, directions for processing secondary raw materials for the purpose of import substitution are determined and joint solutions are developed to improve the regulatory framework , including the rationale for increasing the standards and recycling rates.
In addition, the speaker noted that in the next few years the collection of plastic waste will increase significantly and it is not entirely clear whether there is a sufficient volume of consumption of products made from recycled polymers in Russia today. “We are ready to give certain capacities on our territory for the development of third-party enterprises, if it is expedient and beneficial to both parties,” concluded Ms. Vergun.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ecotechnology, Konstantin Rzayev, spoke about his vision of the situation and recalled that in total Russia consumes 5 million tons of polymer raw materials, an impressive part of which remains in use for decades (window frames, pipes, geomaterials), and in “garbage” first of all, polymer packaging gets into.

According to the speaker, taking into account the expected sharp increase in the collection of plastic waste at sorting by the efforts of regional operators, an additional 100-150 thousand tons of PET and several hundred thousand tons of other polymer packaging can be expected in the next few years.

Mr. Rzayev, continuing the conversation, noted that the previous two or three years had set some trends in the field of plastic waste processing, there were factors that led to the growth of the industry and new opportunities. Among these, the speaker noted the adoption of laws 458 and 503 F3, the introduction of extended producer responsibility, the launch of an increasing number of waste sorting complexes, as well as the implementation of a ban on waste disposal, which includes useful components, which began in 2018. Territorial schemes have been developed in almost all regions, about a third of them have chosen MSW recycling operators, more and more organizations are learning about extended producer responsibility and environmental fees.

Of course, environmental friendliness is becoming a trend. But the segment still has problems: the low collection of fractions for processing, the high proportion of players remaining "in the shadows", the unstructured industry - will this change in the coming year? The question remains open.

The expert estimated the consumption of recycled PET (in the form of PET flakes) for 2017 at 151 thousand tons, of which domestic production is 136 thousand tons, about 16 thousand tons were imported, and 877 tons were exported. Almost 100% of imports - PET flakes for the production of polyester fiber. Among the largest supplier countries: Ukraine, Belarus-Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and the UK.

The structure of consumption of recycled PET today is as follows: 65.4% is polyester fiber, about 18% - preforms, 12.7% - tape, twine, film and sheets - 2.7%, and less than 1% - other segments (resins, etc.). ) The largest processors - manufacturers of polyester fiber (Comitex, RB-Group, Technoplast, Politex, Nomatex, Selena, Vtorkom), Specta (leader in the Russian packaging tape market), as well as the only manufacturer of food-grade PET granulate, the Plarus plant.

The volume of deliveries of recycled polyethylene to Russia, for comparison, in 2014 was 1.9 thousand tons, by 2016 it rose to 3.3 thousand tons, but in 2017 it dropped again and amounted to about 3.1 thousand tons. Among the largest suppliers according to the data over the past year - Poland (2.2 thousand tons) and Bulgaria (777 tons).

In Europe, an average of 492 kg of waste per person per year is produced, of which a smaller part - 42% is recycled, and the remaining 58% is buried or incinerated, Kaspars Fogelmanis, CEO of PET Baltija, said in his report on plastics recycling in Europe.

Today, almost 50% of all plastic collected and recycled in the EU comes from France, Germany and Italy. These countries are joined by Spain and the UK, forming the top five players and collecting about 71% of the total waste in the EU. The European Commission has proposed to increase the percentage of recycling of the entire flow of plastic waste in the EU to 55% by 2025.

PET waste imports to China decreased in the 3rd quarter of 2017 by 177.6 thousand tons, or 26% compared to the figures for 2016, which amounted to 517 thousand tons. By the end of 2017, the Chinese authorities banned the import of 24 types of materials, including paper and plastic. From now on, they will only accept recyclable materials with a pollution level of no more than 0.3%, according to the government of the country.

Clearly, the ban imposed by China has an impact on recycling worldwide: this extends to the EU-27 countries, where 87% of the collected recycled plastic is shipped directly or indirectly via Hong Kong to China. Japan and the US are also taking advantage of China buying up their recycled plastic. Last year, America exported 1.42 million tons of plastic waste, which, according to Mr. Fogelmanis, brought China nearly $500 million.

Lyubov Melanevskaya, executive director of RusPEC, made a report on the mechanisms for implementing extended producer responsibility (which are provided for in two ways: independently or through payment of an environmental fee).

“According to the plan, the state in 2017 was supposed to collect 6.5 billion rubles. as an environmental fee, but in fact collected 1.3 billion rubles. What does it take to make ROP work? Clear rules of the game, equal contribution of business, the state and the population, as well as support for the “first swallows” in the independent implementation of the ROP,” shared Ms. Melanevskaya.

Success in the current situation, according to the speaker, can be achieved through the synchronous adoption of legislative acts, giving the authorities obligations to introduce separate waste collection and responsibility for failure to achieve targets for the RSO, as well as the introduction of infrastructure for the RSO. The North Ossetia Law, adopted at the end of 2017, marked the beginning of changes. Will there be further improvements? Time will tell.

Anna Dautova, head of the TechnoNIKOL project, believes that Russia still lacks a culture and widespread practice of collecting and processing polystyrene waste, but this process can be led by their company, and then an important environmental problem on a national scale will be solved.

Recycling of polystyrene waste requires less than 10% of the total resources spent on the production of virgin polymers. At the same time, for the production of a number of products, secondary ones can be used in large volumes. Speaking about the world experience, the speaker noted that Torox and Ursa are the main players in the European polystyrene recycling market. According to the data provided by the speaker, 50 thousand tons of expanded polystyrene are recycled annually in Europe, and in Japan, with a market capacity of primary foamed polystyrene of 132 thousand tons, 125 thousand tons are collected and reused.

Kaloyan Iliev, General Director of the Yerema subsidiary, presented information on pre-vacuum treatment at elevated temperature before extrusion, due to which, in a stable technological environment, moisture and migratory substances are removed from the material already before extrusion. This processing and the short extrusion screw ensure continuous production of food grade approved PET pellets with high and stable viscosities and good color values.

Global waste collection rates are on the rise, with Asia leading the way. The legislation is getting stricter: recycling of materials is encouraged and at the same time restrictions on waste disposal and energy use are introduced, which, of course, should have a positive impact on the global environment, said Peter Hartel, head of sales at Krones, and spoke about the decisions of the plastics recycling company. Krones modular systems are fully customizable and can be supplied as individual machines or as turnkey plants. MetaPure processing technology produces flakes or granules of various qualities, up to food grade PET in accordance with the FDA and other certification systems.

In conclusion, the conversation turned to PET packaging. According to Starlinger Viscotec representative Gerhard Ossberger, there are three conditions for successful PET packaging: optical appearance (bright color, full transparency and no defects), food safety (100% safe packaging for human health), mechanical characteristics (maximum stackability and warehousing, strength). The deCON dryer and viscoSHEET extrusion line removes dust to reduce visual blemishes, dries raw materials for maximum viscosity yet maximum strength, and cleans incoming recycled materials for 100% food safety. In this way, Viscotec creates high-quality "protection" for the goods.

The 20th century is considered the century of steel and non-ferrous metals. Aluminum, copper, iron alloys could be found everywhere - in bed headboards, bridges, mechanisms of all types, cladding panels. However, as a result of mechanical processing, 50–80% of the melted material went into chips. Experts pinned great hopes on the chemical industry associated with a decrease in material consumption. And yet, despite the growth in the use of polymers, the results of the industry by the 80s were about the same: half of the resources were wasted.

Obviously, the apparent availability of polymers is an illusion. The raw material used for their manufacture is a natural rarity. Access to its sources is a daily and invariable cause and cause of trade, diplomatic and other wars. The geography of extraction of natural resources is increasingly shifting to places not so remote. Therefore, today they are increasingly talking about the need to introduce resource-saving business models.

The uniqueness of the technological methods of modern chemical production lies not only in the ability to synthesize materials that successfully replace metal, paper or wood.

Most of today's industrial complexes of developed economies are able to recycle obsolete polymer products into new ones that are in demand by the user.

Recycled plastics

The main classes of polymers include:

• polyethylenes,
• polypropylenes,
• PVC,
• polystyrenes (including copolymers - ABS plastics),
• polyamides,
• polyethylene terephthalate.

Products that are complex in composition are first of all separated. For physical cleaning, various mechanisms are used - vacuum, thermal, cryogenic.

The most common and economically justified technologies are flotation and dissolution.

In the first case, the plastic is crushed, immersed in water. There are also added compounds that affect the ability of various plastics to absorb moisture. After separation, separated polymers are obtained.

In the second method, complex compressed parts are crushed and successively exposed to various solvents. To restore materials in their pure form, the resulting compounds are exposed to water vapor. As a result of a precisely executed process, finished products of a high degree of purity are obtained. Further processing of various plastics may have its own characteristics associated with the individual properties of polymers.

Polyethylene of high and low pressure (LDPE and HDPE).

The group of these compounds is also called polyolefins. They have found wide application in all types of industry, medicine, and the agricultural sector. PE are thermoplastics - materials suitable for remelting. This feature is successfully used by the industry, processing its own technological waste in order to reduce operating costs.

The complexity of the recycling of used plastic is due to the partial destruction of its surfaces caused by the sun's rays. Products obtained by the usual processing of products: grinding, mechanical cleaning, remelting, are not of high quality. Most often, such polyethylene is used for the manufacture of auxiliary household equipment.

Secondary polyethylene, which has undergone chemical modification, turns out to be more perfect. Various additives placed in the polymer melt bind the changed molecular units and even out the structure of the substance. Dicumyl peroxide, wax, lignins, slates are used as modifiers. Additives of certain types lead to a change in certain properties of recycled PE. Combining them allows you to get a material with the necessary parameters.

Polypropylene (PP)

This material is rarely recycled. Most often, plastic has one life, despite its excellent consumer characteristics that allow the use of the polymer in the food industry. Despite good remeltability, the high cost of maintaining hygiene deters processors. Nevertheless, in the United States every fifth ton of PP is reused.

According to chemists, PP can withstand no more than four remelts. With each heating, a certain amount of deformed molecular units accumulates, affecting the physical characteristics of the material. Secondary granules are easily processed in extruders and injection molding machines.

Recycled plastic does not require special modification. Its parameters are comparable with the original material, only slightly reduced frost resistance. Again, the polymer finds use in battery cases, garden tools, containers and films.

Polyvinyl chloride PVC

The material is used for the manufacture of linoleums, finishing films. Plastic is subject to thermal degradation. At temperatures above 100°, the oxidation of macromolecules begins to pick up speed, leading to a deterioration in the thermoplastic properties of the material.

The technology of extrusion using recycled PVC requires special preparation: the initial raw material mixture in the melt may be inhomogeneous. Solid modifications of PVC containing recycled plastic will have uneven internal stress. In order to minimize negative impacts, dry processing of granules in compactors is carried out before extrusion. As a result of this operation, fibers are formed that reinforce the walls of new products.

More often recycled polyvinyl chloride is used to obtain plastisols, vinyl plastics. Pastes, solutions, injection molded products are obtained from these materials. Among the new technologies, multi-layer casting is gaining popularity. A feature of the method is the production of a multi-component sheet, each layer of which has different characteristics.

The outer surface of the composite is formed by a high-quality polymer, the inner layers are recycled plastic.

Polystyrene (UPS, PSM) ABS plastic

Various types of polystyrene are recycled in one mass - impact-resistant modifications, copolymers, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. The versatility of products made from PS is often the reason why industrialists refuse to process it. The price of cleaning, sorting, modification is too high.

Prospects for plastics recycling.

In developed economies, the share of plastic processing reaches 26% of the generated amount - up to 90 million tons. At the same time, the volume the world market is 600 billion dollars. The domestic segment of polymer recycling looks somewhat more modest: 5.5 million tons. According to experts, the demand of the Russian industry for monomers and full-fledged modified thermoplastics significantly exceeds their supply. The presence of these two factors leads to an increase in national capacities for polymer processing. Moreover, the growth rates of industrial volumes in this area are ahead of European ones. Existing market trends are taken into account in government forecasts. The priority of re-equipment of the processing industry is laid down in the twenty-year sectoral plan for the development of gas and petrochemistry.

Provided by INVENTRA, a member of the CREON Group, which organized this event, which brought together leading representatives of the industry on February 17 in the Russian capital.

Polymer recycling, which is so developed in European countries, is still in its infancy in Russia: separate waste collection has not been established, there is no regulatory framework, there is no infrastructure, and there is no consciousness among the majority of the population. However, market players look to the future with optimism, pinning their hopes on the Year of Ecology, which was announced in the country in 2017 by presidential decree.

Third international conference "Polymer Recycling 2017", organized by INVENTRA, was held in Moscow on February 17. The partners of the event were Polymetrix, Uhde Inventa-Fischer, Starlinger Viscotec, MAAG Automatik, Erema and Moretto; support was provided by Nordson, DAK Americas and PETplanet. The information sponsor of the conference is the Polymer Materials magazine.

“Now the situation is not inspiring, but its improvement is a matter of time,” said the Managing Director of the CREON Group in his welcoming speech. Sergei Stolyarov. – With high prices for primary raw materials, the demand for recycled polymers and products from them will grow. At the same time, the appearance of domestic raw materials will shift the structure of primary consumption towards fibers and films. In this regard, the use of secondary polymers becomes especially promising.”

At the end of 2016, the global collection of PET for recycling amounted to 11.2 million tons, according to PCI consultant Wood Mackenzie Helen McGee. The main share fell on the countries of Asia - 55%, in Western Europe 17% of the world volume was collected, in the USA - 13%. According to the expert's forecast, by 2020 the collection of PET for recycling will exceed 14 million tons, and in percentage terms the collection level will reach 56% (now 53%). The main growth is expected at the expense of Asian countries, in particular, China.

At the moment, the highest level of collection is observed in China, it is 80%, and other Asian countries have reached approximately the same figure.

According to Ms. McGee, out of PET collected in 2016 (and this, we recall, 11.2 million tons), production losses amounted to 2.1 million tons, respectively, 9.1 million tons of flakes were obtained. The main direction of further processing is fibers and threads (66 %).

By 2025, 60% of household waste will be recycled in Europe, in 2030 this figure will grow to 65%. Such amendments are planned in the Waste Framework Directive, said Kaspars Fogelmanis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nordic Plast. Now the level of recycling is much lower - in Latvia, for example, it is only 21%, on average in Europe - 44%.

At the same time, the volume of plastic packaging produced in the Baltics is growing every year, the most common recyclable polymers are LDPE film, HDPE and PP.

In Russia, in 2016, the consumption of recycled PET (rePET) amounted to about 177 thousand tons, of which 90% fell to domestic collection. As reported Konstantin Rzaev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EcoTechnologies Group, almost 100% of imports were PET flakes for the production of polyester fiber. The largest supplier countries are Ukraine (more than 60%), as well as Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Tajikistan.

Konstantin Rzayev noted that last year the collection rate for the first time exceeded 25%, and this allows us to speak about the emergence in Russia of a full-fledged industry that is already of interest for investment. Today, the main consumer (62% of the total volume) and the price driver is still the recycled PET fiber segment. But changes in legislation and the trend towards the priority use of recycled materials as part of the sustainable development strategies of multinational manufacturing companies (MNCs) provide fertile ground for the development of another key segment of rePET consumption - bottle-to-bottle.

Over the past year, there were no new large-scale productions consuming rePET, but its use in the sheet segment is gradually growing.

However, already in 2017, it is expected to open new recycled PET fiber production facilities and expand existing ones, which, together with the ruble exchange rate, will be the main factor influencing the market balance and prices for rePET.

However, there are many other areas, still undeveloped, but quite promising, where recycled PET is also in demand. As the honorary president of ARPET said Victor Kernitsky, these are threads for furniture fabrics, car upholstery and various types of geosynthetics, foamed materials for heat and sound insulation, sorption materials for wastewater treatment, as well as bitumen reinforcing fibers for road construction.

According to the expert, there are many new processing technologies and applications, and the goal of state policy should not be to limit the use of PET, but to collect and rationally use its waste.

The topic was continued Lyubov Melanevskaya, Executive Director of the RusPEC Association, who spoke about the first results of the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Russia. It entered into force in 2016, its goal is to create a constant, solvent and growing demand for the recycling of product and packaging waste. After a year, it is already possible to draw some conclusions, the main of which is that there are a number of problems due to which the mechanism for the implementation of the RPR often simply does not work. As Ms. Melanevskaya said at the conference, there is a need to change and supplement the existing regulation. In particular, when declaring goods, including packaging, manufacturers encountered a discrepancy between the codes for the packaging of goods and the codes specified in the adopted regulatory acts, as a result of which many manufacturers and importers were unable to file declarations, because. did not find themselves in regulation. The solution was the rejection of codes and a proposal to switch to the identification of packaging by materials.

In the future, according to RusPEC, it is necessary to adopt a single end-to-end terminology for all elements of the RPR and determine unambiguous, understandable and transparent conditions for concluding contracts with waste management operators. On the whole, the association supports the law on EPR as necessary and positive for the industry.

When introducing and popularizing PET recycling in the country, the availability of modern technologies (as a rule, they are provided by foreign companies) is of great importance. Thus, Polymetrix offers modern solutions for the recycling of PET, in particular, the SSP technology for recycling into food bottled polyethylene terephthalate. Now there are 21 such lines in the world, said Danil Polyakov, regional sales manager. The technology involves the processing of bottles into pellets for food containers. The first step is washing, when paper fibers and surface contaminants are completely removed, as well as labels and glue. Next, the bottles are crushed into flakes, which are sorted by color. Then comes the removal of impurities (wood, metal, rubber, colored flakes) to a level of less than 20 ppm.

According to Mr. Polyakov, various granules can be obtained in the process of extrusion: cylindrical or spherical, amorphous or crystallized.

Viscotec offers its customers the technology to convert PET bottles into sheets, says company representative Gerhard Osberger. For example, the viscoSTAR and deCON solid phase polycondensation reactors are designed to purify and increase the viscosity of PET pellets and flakes. They are used after the granulator, before the production extrusion equipment or as a stand-alone unit.

The ViscoSHEET line is capable of producing tape made from 100% recycled PET and fully food grade.

Erema representative Christoph Wioss spoke about the in-line production of food plastic bottles from PET flakes. The VACUREMA® inline system allows you to process flakes directly into finished thermoforming sheet, bottle preform, finished packaging tape or monofilament.

Summing up the results of the conference, its participants identified the main factors hindering the development of polymer recycling in Russia. The main one they called the lack of regulatory documents:

“Nevertheless, there is another factor that we cannot ignore, and that is public consciousness,” says the director of the conference. Rafael Grigoryan. “Unfortunately, our mentality today is such that the separate collection of waste is perceived more as pampering than as the norm. And no matter what progress we see in other areas, it is necessary first of all to change the thinking of our fellow citizens. Without this, even the most modern infrastructure will be useless.”

These were the results of the industry conference “Polymer Recycling 2017”. A detailed list can be found in our calendar.

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The issue of preserving the environment is acute in many countries of the world, people understand that their environment cannot accept our waste indefinitely. Therefore, it remains for us to carefully approach the solution of this problem, reduce the amount of waste, recycle it to the extent possible and obtain secondary raw materials. If you pay attention to the amount of polymer waste in the modern world, it is huge, so you need to start processing it.

Some entrepreneurs have created a profitable plastic recycling business that has enriched them . The issue of recycling plastic and other polymers today it is in demand in all cities and towns where people live. Let's look at how polymers are processed, or rather, what equipment is needed for this. It is important to understand that modern recycling lines are completely different technologies that were introduced only a couple of decades ago. Many companies offer us a wide range of polymer processing equipment, but the new entrepreneur needs to know what features are most important when buying. With the right processing equipment, you can significantly increase the profits of your business and eliminate competitors.

Polymers are found in large quantities in our daily life, it is a product of large cities. Plastic waste can accumulate in one city in the amount of several tons. Many do not even think where ordinary plastic bottles or some other polymeric products from a landfill go. In theory, this does not bother anyone, although everyone knows that plastic will not dissolve on its own, it will remain for centuries, slowly breaking down and causing significant harm to the environment. Every day the consumption of products, things and solutions that contain plastic is increasing in the world, and it is even difficult to imagine what will happen to the planet in 100-200 years if plastic waste is not recycled.

Unfortunately, in Russia, few people even from the government pay attention to plastic recycling. In other developed countries, everything is different, for example, in America and Europe, every resident understands the rational use of waste, separating them when thrown into a trash can. And special enterprises process tons of secondary raw materials daily, without littering the environment. In addition to maintaining a clean environment in their cities, a number of countries also receive inexpensive recycled materials, saving their money and energy.

Plastic recycling technologies

It seems to aspiring entrepreneurs that plastic recycling is a complicated procedure. In fact, this is not so, because there is a modern production line that does all the work itself. The main thing is to choose the right equipment, set it up and start it up.

The recycling process is divided into three stages:

1. Shredding of plastic waste to small fractions in the form of crumbs. The size of such fractions should not exceed 0.1-0.3 cm in diameter.
2. Now you need wash the polymer fractions and clean them from contaminants. This is a very important stage, the quality of the resulting product will greatly depend on the degree of contamination. After washing, the raw material is dried.
3. At the next stage, there is agglomeration or granulation, depending on the chosen technology. In the first case, the raw material turns into a small crumb, and in the second - in the form of sand, with a uniform quality. Granules are more expensive than agglomerate due to their higher quality, so it is advisable to choose equipment and technologies, relying specifically on granulation when recycling plastic.

Classification of polymers

Before you start working on recycling plastic, you need to know that there are several types of polymers that differ from each other. Therefore, they will have to be processed separately so as not to spoil the quality and properties.

• LDPE or high pressure polyethylene. When processed, it becomes transparent, does not emit any smoke or odor. In appearance, it strongly resembles paraffin, which has already solidified.
• HDPE, the same polyethylene, but low pressure. It is more durable, but fragile, the rest of the processing properties are the same as the previous instance
• PET or polyethylene terephthalate is a very light and hard material that resists high temperatures well, can withstand solutions and acids, but not alkali
• Polystyrene is very soft, it can bend at large angles, however, it bursts. It smells like flowers, emits very strong smoke during processing

At the initial stage of organizing an enterprise, you need to immediately decide what material you are going to work with, because each requires its own production line. In our country, it is most effective to open a PET processing plant, because these are plastic bottles that are found everywhere. It is also effective to use the film, these are HDPE and LDPE in the recycling process.