Transcript PLASTICS RECYCLING AND THE NEED FOR BIOPOLYMERS

PLASTICS RECYCLING
AND THE NEED FOR
BIOPOLYMERS
Mrs Almitra Patel, Member
Supreme Court Committee for
Solid Waste Management
50 Kothnur, Bagalur Rd, Bangalore 560077.
[email protected]
Let us be proud of India’s
small ecological footprint!
We use 50-100 gm non-degradable waste
per capita per day in larger cities,
vs
1-2 kg per capita per day in the West.
This is NOT backwardness. We should
not copy the ways of throwaway cultures.
Yet thin-film plastics in our
mixed waste is increasing.
In 1993, 1-2% by weight reached the dumps.
In 2003, this rose to even 7-9% in some cities.
Plastic volumes now exceed the volume of
compost produced in compost plants, which
are now mandatory. Plastics must be removed
to prevent damage to soil porosity and water
absorption, and the poor germination of seeds.
But
plastic
wastes
are
a
major
Thin-film plastics on right are
problem in composting and need
more voluminous than the
very costly machinery to remove
sieved compost produced.
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In India, recycling supports
0.5 – 1% of a city’s population
MSW Rules 2000 direct Municipalities
to “promote recycling or reuse of
segregated materials” and “ensure
community participation in segregation”
Almost all plastics are recyclable,
and are collected if it is economically
worthwhile and give a survival wage.
But “Recyclable” is meaningless
unless Recycling is actually done!
What is hard to recycle?
Carry-bags and film packs were recycled
till collection costs became unviable.
If they can fetch a street price of Rs 5-6
per kg, they can be very usefully used in
asphalt roads, replacing 8% by weight
of bitumen and giving 250%-300%
better road life and less pot-holes.
PET bottles are only now
being collected and recycled.
Dumping of PET bottles from abroad,
almost free, have made local collection
unviable. If imports are stopped, local
recycling capacity will turn to Indian
waste and clean up our streets.
Contact [email protected] for
collection services in your city.
What is NOT currently recyclable?
The gum on BOPP film labels on PET bottles
interferes with recycling.
Micro-sachets are not worth collecting by picking:
we need “take-back” schemes to capture these.
Metallised BOPP film is not found suitable
for use in asphalt / tar roads. If it could be
densified, it could substitute coal in
foundries and cement plants, along with
any other non-recycled polymer wastes.
Tetrapacks and other multifilms are hard to recycle.
Use of bio-polymer films in all but the
innermost layer would make Tetrapaks
more recyclable in paper mills.
One hardboard plant at Palghar uses
post-producer waste, but requires huge
capital cost for replication all-India.
Where are bio-polymers
most needed?
Wherever they enter the composting stream:
 Garbage bags for food wastes
 Liners for disposable diapers
 Liners for sanitary napkins
 For micro-sachets and pouch packings
 Use-and-throw cups which are now of
recyclable HIPS but too bulky to collect
The Electronic Industry
urgently needs biopolymers
for easy recycling of e-Waste
Currently, most e-Waste is secretly burnt
to recover precious metals from chips etc.
Dioxins are produced if wires are coated
with PVC. Substitutes are more expensive.
We need plastic substrates that dissolve in
acid/alkali to recover metals without burning.
Where NOT to use Biopolymers
DO NOT try to biodegrade PVC or
halogen-containing polymers. Dioxins will
form in contact with organics in soil /water
Pune insists on costly “degradable” bags
for hospital waste which is incinerated
within a few hours! Allegedly to reduce tar
formation on the incinerator refractories.
We need to study legislation
in other countries, esp the EU
India needs legislation and market
strategies to promote Product
Stewardship, producer responsibility
and life-cycle analysis to minimise
waste and make dismantling and
recycling easy and economical.