Laboratory for Circular Process Engineering (LCPE), Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Graaf Karel de Goedlaan 5, B-8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
Laboratory for Chemical Technology (LCT), Department of Materials, Textiles, and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Technologiepark 130, B-9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium; Circular Plastics, Department of Circular Chemical Engineering (CCE), Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Urmonderbaan 22, 6162 Geleen, the Netherlands.
Waste Manag. 2022 Nov;153:249-263. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2022.09.002. Epub 2022 Sep 18.
Increasing the recycling rates for post-consumer flexible plastics (PCFP) waste is imperative as PCFP is considered a difficult-to-recycle waste with only 17 % of PCFP effectively recycled in Europe. To tackle this pressing issue, improved mechanical recycling processes are being explored to increase the recycling rates of PCFP. One interesting option is the so-called quality recycling process (QRP) proposed by CEFLEX, which supplements more conventional mechanical recycling of PCFP with additional sorting, hot washing, improved extrusion, and deodorization. Material flow analysis (MFA) model is applied to assess the performance of QRP. Four performance indicators related to quantity (process yield and net recovery) and quality (polymer grade and transparency grade) are applied to measure the performance of three PCFP mechanical recycling scenarios. The results are compared against the conventional recycling of PCFP, showing that QRP has a similar process yield (64 % - 66 %) as conventional recycling (66 %). The net recovery indicator shows that in QRP higher recovery rates are achieved for transparent-monolayer PCFP (>90 %) compared to colored-multilayer PCFP (51 % - 91 %). The quality indicators (polymer and transparency grades) demonstrate that the regranulates from QRP have better quality compared to the conventional recycling. To validate the modeling approach, the modeled compositional data is compared with experimental compositional analyses of flakes and regranulates produced by pilot recycling lines. Main conclusions are: (i) although yields do not increase significantly, extra sorting and recycling produces better regranulates' quality (ii) performing a modular MFA gives insights into future recycling scenarios and helps in decision making.
提高消费后柔性塑料（PCFP）废物的回收利用率是当务之急，因为 PCFP 被认为是一种难以回收的废物，在欧洲只有 17%的 PCFP 得到了有效回收。为了解决这个紧迫的问题，正在探索改进的机械回收工艺，以提高 PCFP 的回收利用率。一种有趣的选择是 CEFLEX 提出的所谓质量回收工艺（QRP），该工艺通过额外的分类、热洗、改进的挤压和除臭来补充 PCFP 的更常规机械回收。应用物料流分析（MFA）模型来评估 QRP 的性能。应用四个与数量（工艺收率和净回收）和质量（聚合物等级和透明度等级）相关的性能指标来衡量三种 PCFP 机械回收方案的性能。将结果与 PCFP 的常规回收进行比较，结果表明 QRP 的工艺收率（64%-66%）与常规回收（66%）相似。净回收指标表明，在 QRP 中，透明单层 PCFP（>90%）的回收率高于有色多层 PCFP（51%-91%）。质量指标（聚合物和透明度等级）表明，与常规回收相比，来自 QRP 的再造粒具有更好的质量。为了验证建模方法，将建模的组成数据与通过中试回收线生产的薄片和再造粒的实验组成分析进行了比较。主要结论是：（i）尽管收率没有显著增加，但额外的分类和回收可以提高再造粒的质量；（ii）进行模块化 MFA 可以深入了解未来的回收方案，并有助于决策制定。
