Popular Product from Waste Better sorting In addition to PP flakes, the original material for re-granulation also includes other PP waste (e.g. bottle caps) and production waste. AKG produces different re-granulate qualities with varying features and applications. A pre-condition for top-quality recycling products is the quality of the raw material: if lightweight packaging of plastics, metals and composites were collected together with residual waste, they would be dirty and smell, and would be unsuitable for mechanical recycling. Extruders melt down, compress, homogenize and microfiltrate the plastic to eliminate residual impurities. The melted mass is pressed through perforated strainers, the resultant plastic strands are cooled in the water quench and then granulated to millimetre-thin lenses. The granulate can now be filled into big-bags or is conveyed to storage silos via a pipe. The lightweight packaging collected in the yellow bag or yellow bin is extensively sorted automatically in special plants: PP re-granulate is a very popular product for the plastics industry. Automotive parts, packaging, storage and transport systems are manufactured using such re-granulate in injection moulding, and also products for road, house and garden construction as well as housing for electrical devices. } } } Screen drums sort the flow of packaging according to size, and air separators suck out foil. Magnets remove ferrous metals from the conveyor belt. Eddy current separators sort non-magnetic metals (aluminium). Optical sorting systems recognize various types of plastics with the aid of cameras and computers, and remove these with extreme accuracy. The result is compressed bales of varying material which are continuously checked for quality by DSD and DKR. Bales with plastics packaging are the raw material for the production of flakes. Die Der Grüne Punkt Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD) is a leading supplier of take-back systems in Germany. In addition to collection and recycling of sales packaging close to home, this also includes environmental-friendly and efficient recycling of electrical and electronic devices as well as transport packaging, facility disposal and deposit clearing. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kreislaufwirtschaft und Rohstoffe mbH (DKR) deals with the trading and refinement of secondary raw materials and the operating of logistic concepts for bulk goods in the secondary raw material market. It provides services for commercial customers from industry and trade as well as systems operators at home and abroad. DKR is a subsidiary of DSD, for which it organizes the recycling of plastics packaging collected in the dual system. Imprint: Der Grüne Punkt Duales System Deutschland GmbH 51170 Cologne Phone +49 22 03 9 37-0 Fax +49 22 03 9 37-1 90 Responsible for content: Klaus Hillebrand Photos: DSD/Peter Liedtke Status: August 2010 Filled re-granulate Automatic sorting High-purity PP re-granulate How to win a flower pot ! Polypropylene (PP) as an example of plastics recycling with the Grüner Punkt Re-granulate - as good as new Pure flakes as a raw material Separating waste is sustainable Too valuable for the furnace AKG Polymers BV (Netherlands) uses polypropylene (PP) flakes to make top-quality re-granulate - a fine example of sensible ecological and efficient plastics recycling. The flakes are initially gained from used packaging, i.e. from yoghurt tubs or fruit bowls, collected in the yellow bag and in the yellow bin. DKR has the starting product, polypropylene flakes, made for example at a processing plant of the Entsorgungsgesellschaft Niederrhein (EGN) (Niederrhein Disposal Company). Packaging from the yellow bag or yellow bin flows through several process steps: In November 2009 the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (BMWi) published a study concerning the Packaging Ordinance titled Economic and ecological assessment of sorted collection of recyclable waste from private households and comparable sources of waste. An ecological comparison between waste incineration and recycling using plastics as an example shows that recycling provides immense benefits for both the environment and the economy. Mechanical recycling of plastic waste is the best option in ecological terms. Demand for such re-granulate is growing continuously. It is available at a much lower price than new products, and yet is of equivalent quality. Part of the re-granulate is processed by the AKG group via injection moulding into flower and plant pots, which they trade across Europe. } The study was commissioned by the BMWi and conducted by the IGES Institute, Berlin, the ISWA Institute at the University of Stuttgart responsible for Waste Management, and the Specialist Department for Business and Infrastructure Policy at the Berlin University of Technology. Here are just some of the results in brief: The plant pots are again collected after use in Germany as sales packaging in the yellow bag or the yellow bin. } } } A magnet above the conveyor belt removes any tiny metal pieces. A mill grinds the packaging to a grain size of less than twelve millimetres. The flakes are centrifuged together with water, during which paper and other impurities are removed. Various air separators suck out lighter components (e.g. polystyrene). After processing, the washed flakes have a purity of more than 98 per cent PP. } } } Waste sorting makes a sustainable contribution to raw material supply and is therefore sensible and useful for the overall economy. Abolishing of sorted collection is not to be recommended, for ecological reasons, and in business terms would at best result in minimum cost saving for society. Common collection of packaging and samematerial non-packaging via the recycling bin is sensible and useful. The recycling of plastic from the yellow bag and the yellow bin, as practiced today by DSD, saves 1.26 tons CO2 per ton of recycled plastic compared to incineration in an average German waste incineration plant. This is the result of calculations made by the Heidelberg Institute IFEU, commissioned by DSD GmbH. Mechanical recycling, i.e. the processing of plastics to re-granulate, the base product for new plastic products, is the best option. Since plastic only remains in the cycle by means of material recycling, this option also provides the greatest contribution to the protection of resources. Mechanical recycling is today very efficient in business terms. Re-granulate from used plastic packaging is comparable to new products made from crude oil in terms of quality, and costs less. Further information is available at www.gruener-punkt.de/sustainability Further information is available at www.bmwi.de Plant pots of PP re-granulate Processing plant for PP Re-granulate in the research lab New product (left) made fro packaging (top right) PP flakes