Transcript Recycling Report: The truth about Clamshell and Blister

Recycling Report:
The truth about Clamshell and
Blister Recycling in America
Chandler Slavin
Sustainability Coordinator
Dordan Manufacturing Co. Inc.
Dordan Manufacturing Co. Inc.
• Midwestern based, national manufacturer of
custom designed thermoformed packaging
solutions since 1962.
• 3rd generation family owned and operated.
• Specializes in custom clamshells, blisters, trays
and components for the consumer goods and
electronics industries.
© 2010 Dordan Manufacturing, Inc.
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Today’s Presentation
• Introduction: What is “recyclable” and why
• Part 1: The economics of recycling packaging in
America
• Part 2: The state of blister/clamshell recycling in
America
• Conclusion: Progress being made in recycling
thermoforms
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The Discovery
[If the] “Substantial majority” of
consumers/communities have access to
recycling facilities — [Then the] marketer can
make an unqualified recyclable claim.
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Dordan CEO’s Inquiry:
If we manufacture our thermoforms out of
PCR PET bottles, then why can’t we
recycle them with PET bottles?
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What types of packaging is
recycled in America?
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http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw2008data.pdf
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Why are certain types of packages
recycled, while others are not?
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Part 1:
The Economics of Recycling in
America
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Economics of Recycling
Recycling requires many steps, with costs
associated with each:
– Collect post-consumer
– Transport
– Sort
– Reprocess
– and, Remanufacture
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Example: PET bottles
• Made from quality resin
• Established infrastructure leads to “easy”
recycling
• Established post consumer market ensures a
high value
• Allows it to compete with virgin
resin
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Chicken and Egg
• Demand for post-consumer material drives
collection (supply)
• Collection will not occur unless a market
(demand) exists
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Too expensive to recycle?
• Costs associated with collection, sorting,
transportation and reprocessing can be very high
• These costs can exceed the cost of virgin resin
– Result is a material that is “too expensive to
recycle”
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Example: EPS
• 98% air; 2 % resin
• It’s bulky and lightweight
– Transportation costs are very high without the aid of a
densifier
– Densifiers are costly infrastructure investments
– This makes it economically unsustainable to recycle EPS in
most markets
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“Material/packaging type?”
• Material (or resin) type is only one part of the
equation
• Many times, the packaging type or application
plays an important role as well
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What does all this mean for the
state of recycling thermoform
packaging, like clamshells and
blisters, in America?
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Part 2:
The State of Blister/Clamshell
Recycling in America
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Section 1:
Supply and Demand
Considerations for Recycling
Thermoforms
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Supply Considerations
• There has to be enough
• “enough” is defined by the requirements of
the buyer/end market
• “enough” is commonly referred to as “Critical
Mass” in the WM industry
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Example: PET Bottles
• According to NAPCOR, the total number of
pounds of PET bottles and jars available in the
U.S. for recycling in 2008 was 5.366 billion.
• This quantity far exceeds the critical mass
necessary to economically justify the recycling
of PET bottles in the context of material
generation.
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PET Bottle vs. Thermoform
Generation
• There are not as many clamshells of a single resin
manufactured as there are of PET bottles
• This makes the collection of an adequate supply of
this material/package type difficult
• Its recycling has been historically economically
ambiguous
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Do thermoforms have Critical
Mass?
• There has to be about 400 million lbs of a
particular plastic generated for the recycling
to be profitable (Plasticstoday.com).
• Fortunately, 1.4 billion lbs of PET thermoforms
were produced in North America in 2008
(Ibid).
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Thermoforms do
have Critical Mass
• Recycling of PET thermoforms can be an
economically sustainable process
• Transition from PVC to PET will render more
PC PET available for collecting and recycling
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Demand Considerations
• Demand for PC PET material in North America
exceeds the supply 3:1
• If PET thermoforms were integrated into the
PET recovery stream, then more RPET would
be available to meet the growing demand
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Section 2:
Sortation Considerations for
Recycling Thermoforms
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Sortation is…
• The process by which recyclable materials are sorted
from those destined for landfill
• This often occurs at the MRF
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Sorting Technologies
• There are two sortation systems employed at MRFs:
– Visual/manual sortation :
• Workers on “The Line” manually pull the “recyclables” from those
destined for landfill.
– Automatic sortation:
• Using technology to detect or analyze one or more properties of the
materials passing through and automatically sort these materials into
several categories, either by resin type, color, or both.
– Infrared, optical scanners, magnets, etc…
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Visual Sortation and
Thermoforms?
Bottles
• Easy to visually identify
on “The Line” at a MRF
by their thin necks and
screw tops.
Thermoforms
• Heterogeneous in size,
shape, and material.
• Difficult to visually
identify by material type
as the move down “The
Line” at a MRF.
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SPI ID Code
• Most plastic packaging is labeled with a SPI ID
#, pictured below
• The recent influx of new resins, bio-based
resins, barrier-resins and others have made
the SPI ID code confusing
• Manual sortation does not provide adequate
time to inspect the small symbols
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Example: SPI ID #1
• Packages made from PET are labeled with the SPI ID
#1
• However, packages labeled with #1 may also be
comprised of PETG,
– the –G lowers the melting point of the PET polymer,
disrupting the established reprocessing of PET recyclate.
• Other examples include packages made from CPET
and multi-layer PET,
– these have the potential to ruin the PET recyclate for
remanufacturing.
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In Short…
The more time-intensive the process is for the
manual sorters to visually identify the
recyclable materials from those destined for
landfill, the higher the reprocessing costs;
therefore, the more expensive the recyclate
and the less competitive it will be with virgin
material/product production.
© 2010 Dordan Manufacturing, Inc.
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Automatic Sortation and
Thermoforms?
• Many MRFs do not have automatic sortation
systems because they are too expensive.
• If the investment has not been made, the
MRFs’ ability to sort thermoforms by material
type from those still with no end markets will
be time-intensive, resulting in higher
reprocessing costs.
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Sorting Technologies, the Economics
of Recycling, and Supply and Demand
• Sortation technologies employed by the MRF
can greatly impact the economics of recycling
a particular material.
• A MRF will not make an investment in
automated systems until the supply and
demand necessary to sustain the process of
recycling itself is guaranteed.
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Section 3:
Specs and Baling Considerations
for Recycling Thermoforms
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Specs are…
• The documented qualifications a buyer/end market
outlines to the supplier of PC material upon
procurement. This depends on the end use of the
recyclate:
– If the buyer/end market is a bottler, the recyclate has
to meet one set of specs;
– if the recyclate is intended for thermoformed
packaging, it has to conform to another;
– and, if the recyclate is used in non-packaging
applications like carpet, imitation timber, etc., it has to
demonstrate compliance with another set of specs.
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Closed Loop vs. Down-cycling
• By remanufacturing bottles from bottles or
thermoforms from thermoforms, the value of
the PC material is not assumingly diminished
after reprocessing.
• If down-cycled, the recyclate may be
diminished in value because it does not have
to conform to such stringent specs.
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End-Use Categories for PET and
Associated Market Value
• Packaging applications, like bottles
• Sheet and film applications, including,
thermoforming applications
• Strapping
• Fiber applications, like carpets, fabrics, and
fiberfill, etc.
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Specs = Value of Recyclate
• Generally, the more stringent the specs:
– the higher value the recyclate due to its
application to many end markets
– the lower the concentration of
contaminates
– the more likely the end market attempts to
“close the loop”
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Specs for Thermoform Bales
Needed
• Specs for thermoform bales are needed if we
want to recycle them
• Without a buyer/end market and therefore
specs, these material/packaging types will not
be collected and sold for
reprocessing/remanufacturing
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“Bales” are…
How a material
is collected
and prepared
for recycling at
the MRF
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How do you bale thermoforms?
Due to their differing densities, geometries, and
often times materials, it is difficult to come up
with a uniform bale for market, especially
when no specs for thermoform bales exist,
though this is currently being investigated.
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In Summary…
• We need to create specs for recycling thermoforms
– including specs for baling
• However, no one will create specs for thermoformonly bales or PET thermoform & bottle bales if there
is no buyer/end market
– there will not be a buyer/end market if none of this
material is collected and sorted.
© 2010 Dordan Manufacturing, Inc.
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Part 4:
Contamination Considerations for
Recycling Thermoforms
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Approach to Recycling
Thermoforms?
• There are three popular approaches to recycling
thermoforms:
– Recycle PET thermoforms with PET bottles to
remanufacture into RPET bottles and/or
thermoforms;
– recycle all PET thermoforms together to
remanufacture into RPET thermoforms;
– recycle all mixed-resin thermoforms together to
remanufacture into various down-cycled
applications, like imitation timber.
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Isolate PET Bales for Highest PC
Value
• Bales of a single resin, like PET, enjoy more PC
value than mixed resin bales, described as a
low-grade plastic mix.
• By recycling PET thermoforms with PET bottles
OR recycling all PET thermoforms together,
the resultant recycled material would enjoy a
high PC value applicable to a variety of end
markets.
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Approach taken informs
what is a “Contaminant”
• If either approach is taken (PET bottles+PET
thermoforms OR PET thermoforms only), then
contamination issues need to be addressed.
• If the third approach is taken (recycle all
mixed-resin thermoforms together in a lowgrade plastic mix), these considerations may
not apply; this is again contingent upon the
specs of the buyer/end market.
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Known Contaminates
to PET Recycling
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Barrier Resins(EVOH)
Closures
Labels
Safety seals
Container residue i.e. chemicals or food
Look-a-likes like PVC, CPET, PETG, etc.
Modified PET resins
Multi-layer PET containers
Colored PET
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Where do we go from
here?
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The recycling of thermoforms
depends on the ability to…
• Collect
• Transport
• Sort
• Bale
• Reprocess
• Remanufacture
Into new material/products in an economically competitive
way with virgin material/product production.
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Luckily, we are not alone!
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Progress in Recycling
Thermoforms
In 2009, NAPCOR facilitated the shipment of almost
one million pounds of PET thermoforms to various
reclaimers and end markets to understand the
technical barriers keeping them from being recycled.
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NAPCOR Results
• Certain adhesives on thermoform labels
compromised the clarity of the recyclate for
reprocessing.
• PET packages coming from South America had the
tendency to turn the recyclate fluorescent.
• It is technically easier to recycle PET thermoforms
with PET thermoforms then recycle PET
thermoforms with PET bottles.
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NAPCOR concludes…
“As a result of this work, it is anticipated that there will
be various market options for this material in the
near future…. NAPCOR is committed to working on
this issue until PET thermoforms can be labeled
“recyclable” in the truest sense of the word.”
© 2010 Dordan Manufacturing, Inc.
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What Dordan is doing
• Have been invited to tour a Fortune 500 company on
the east coast that claims to recycle and reprocess
post consumer curb-side collected PET thermoforms
with PET bottles.
• Continue to work with Woodstock High Schools to
educate students about the importance of recycling.
• Continue to “put it all out there” via blog, social
network sites, website, trade magazines, industry
events, etc.
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Thank you!
[email protected]
(815) 334-0087
www.recyclablepackaging.org
Special thanks to WM, NAPCOR, APR, ISRI, CalRecycle, SPC,
and my sustainability and packaging friends around the
globe!
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