Your Go-To Source for Plastics Industry News
Welcome to The Plastics Report, your weekly update on the latest news and trends in the plastics industry.
Want more industry news? Sign up for our flagship newsletter to receive an enhanced edition of The Plastics Report directly to your inbox.
Let's dive in...
World’s Largest Plastic Recycling Plant Opens
Grand opening of Site Zero in Sweden, which can sort up to 12 types of plastic including four types of flexibles at a 95% success rate, is the most efficient recycling plant in Europe.
By Rick Lingle
The world's biggest plant for sorting plastic packaging opened for business today, Nov.?15,?which happens to be Recycling Day. Site Zero in Motala, Sweden, doubles plastic recycling compared to the previous benchmark plant, which was already one of the most efficient in Europe. Up to 95% of all packaging received can be recycled.
Svensk Plast?tervinning (Swedish Plastic Recycling) invested one billion Swedish Krona (about $95 million) in the facility.
"The conditions now exist to actually make plastics part of the circular economy," says Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Svensk Plast?tervinning.
Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari?and more than 350 guests from Sweden and Europe attended the opening ceremony.
The key to successful plastic recycling is retaining the value of the material, which requires efficient sorting and recycling of each individual plastic type. This is where Site Zero is pioneering: The plant can sort as many as 12 types of plastic, which corresponds to almost all types of plastic on the Swedish packaging market, compared to three or four at comparable plants in Europe.
Among those are two types of flexible packaging polymers.
Site Zero has now been tested for a period prior to opening, and the results show record figures for sorting efficiency. As much as 95% of the packaging arriving at the plant can be sorted out for recycling in the next step.
"This means a doubling of plastic recycling compared to our previous plant, which was already one of the most efficient in Europe," says Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Svensk Plast?tervinning. “The results from the test period show that plastic can now become part of the circular economy.
"With Site Zero, we have set a new path for plastic recycling and the rest of Europe. The world needs to follow, to reduce emissions from incineration and the need for primary raw material. It is no longer justifiable to incinerate as much plastic as we do or melt it down into low-quality products that cannot be recycled again.”
Site Zero will be the world's biggest sorting plant and can process 200,000 tons of plastic packaging. This is approximately equivalent to the total volume in Sweden. About half of this plastic packaging is collected by the Swedes, and until more plastic reaches the recycling system, Svensk Plast?tervinning has offered capacity to other countries. Starting in 2024, Site Zero will receive most of Finland's household plastics.
Impressive statistics of the Site Zero recycling facility.
Size: 60,000 square meters (645,835 sq ft); previous plant 15,000 sqm (161,458) sq ft.
Sorting capacity: 12 types of plastic vs three?to four?types at?comparable plants.
Polymers sorted: rigid polypropylene (PP); rigid high-density PP; flexible PP; flexible low-density polyethylene (LDPE); transparent PET trays; transparent PET bottles; colored PET bottles; polystyrene (PS); expanded PS (EPS); polyvinyl chloride (PVC); two grades of mixed polyolefin laminates; and metal and non-plastic rejects.
Sorting efficiency: Up to 95% of the received plastics can be sorted out and recycled in the next step.
Sorting sensors: 60 near-infrared (NIR) sensors; comparable plants have an average of 5 NIR sensors and the previous plant had 19 sensors.
Advanced control system: fully automated process, real-time optimization, artificial intelligence. The different parts of the plant influence and talk to each other, optimizing the sorting process.
Reception capacity: 200,000 tons per year of mixed plastic packaging from households (previous plant, 100,000 tons per year).
Sorting speed: 1,000 packages per second, 42 tons per hour.
End Plastic Pollution or Plastic Production? That Is the Question at INC-3
At the third session of the global plastic treaty talks, the answer depends on what part of the world you call home.
The third negotiating session on a global treaty to curb plastics pollution began Monday in Nairobi with a stark message.
“Nature is suffocating — gasping for breath,” declared Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, executive secretary of the INC Secretariat at the start of Monday’s opening plenary of the third Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3). “All ecosystems, terrestrial and marine, are under threat from plastic pollution. Not only vulnerable and endangered species are at risk, but all diversity of life on our planet hangs in the balance.
“Our own health is at stake, too. Burning plastic waste has been linked to increased risk of heart diseases and aggravating respiratory problems?— and microplastics have been found in human blood and accumulate in our organs. We hold in our hands the power to correct this destructive course that our actions have led us on — and hopefully heal the planet we call our home. We need to plot a new course on plastics to preserve the intricate and fragile web of life that sustains us all.”
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) seeks to develop a legally binding instrument regulating plastic pollution worldwide, with negotiations being completed by the end of 2024.
Addressing the full life cycle of plastic
UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen reminded delegates during the INC-3 opening plenary that the resolution to create a global plastics treaty calls?for an instrument that is “based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic . . . not an instrument that deals with plastic pollution from recycling or waste management alone. . . . This means rethinking everything along the chain, from polymer to production, from product to packaging. We need to use fewer virgin materials, less plastic, and no harmful chemicals.”
Ultimately, she said, INC-3 “must see a strong next iteration of the (treaty) draft and a mandate for the chair to get ready for the next round of negotiations.”
The opening day agenda of INC-3 included two plenary sessions to establish rules of procedure and organization of work, then begin preparing an international instrument, based on the “zero draft” document issued after INC-2. Contact groups began meeting Monday and will meet daily through Saturday. Three more plenary sessions will close INC-3 on Saturday and Sunday.
领英推荐
During the opening plenary, delegates’ perspectives on how to proceed beyond the zero draft were read from a report summarizing the INC-3 preparatory meeting held Saturday. Negotiators’ concerns range from the incorporation of language affirming human rights in the preamble of the final document to the inclusion of internationally agreed-upon definitions for terms like primary and secondary polymers, the life cycle of plastic, “problematic” plastic products, and chemicals of concern.
Bottom-up or top-down approach?
The primary divide in the negotiations is whether to manage plastics pollution from the “bottom up” —?making nations responsible for environmental cleanup and costs —?or mandate a stricter approach that clearly limits or bans production of “problematic” and hard-to-recycle plastics.
For instance, Saudi Arabia on Saturday launched the Global Coalition for Plastics Sustainability to push for a treaty that focuses on managing waste rather than controlling production. Coalition members include Russia, Iran, Cuba, China, and Bahrain. US negotiators, likewise, are focusing on ending plastic pollution, not plastic production, according to Matthew Kastner, spokesperson for the International Council of Chemical Associations.
Plastics producers versus developing nations
The gulf in perspective between large plastics-producing nations versus the developing world was clear in the statement delivered by the Palau delegation on behalf of the 14 Pacific small island developing states. Noting that 23 million tons of plastic are released into the environment annually, with more than half ending up in oceans, plastic pollution often originating “far from our shores” generates “tremendous public” cost in the region, undermining everything from tourism and fisheries to “cultural, economic, and social ties to the environment and ocean.
“While we agree that the invention of plastic has helped improve lives around the world, this cannot be an argument to lessen the ambition of the future treaty,” said the delegation. “The modern world is addicted to plastic. . . . This planetary crisis, which is compounded by climate change and biodiversity loss, can lead to the demise of our human race and requires nothing less than a revolution — a revolution in how we produce, in how we consume, and in what we tolerate.”
The UNEP resolved in March 2022 to pursue a global plastics treaty, followed by negotiating sessions?INC-1 in Uruguay?from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, 2022, and?INC-2 in Paris?from May 29 to June 2, 2023. INC-4 is scheduled for April 21 to 30, 2024, in Ottawa. UNEP’s goal is to complete negotiations by the end of 2024.
The full?INC-3 meeting schedule?is available online.
Watch the?INC-3 preparatory meeting?(two parts), as well as sessions from INC-1 and INC-2. Live broadcasts can be seen on?UN Web TV.
Read a Q&A with Jyoti Mathur-Filipp from UNEP.
The zero draft text and other INC-3 working documents can be found on the UNEP website.
‘Robo-molded’ Fuel Tank Scores Product of the Year Award
The Association of Rotational Molders recognized the fuel tank and Gemstar’s robotic rotational molding technology, a precision process that reportedly achieves elevated levels of tolerance and design freedom for hollow products.
A specialized fuel tank manufactured using Robomold rotomolding technology has earned the Association of Rotational Molders (ARM) 2023 Product of the Year award. Gemstar Manufacturing’s fuel tank features an anti-spill funnel in the filler spout in order to comply with EPA guidelines, which was displayed in the entry sample via a cutaway that revealed the internal features of the tank.
The fuel tank employs Hostaform POM RF polyacetal resin from Celanese to deliver toughness and rigidity, temperature resistance, wear resistance, and low fuel permeation, while Gemstar’s Robomold robotic rotational molding technology provides precision repeatability necessary for highly specialized custom parts. Robomold technology is said to produce tighter tolerances, design flexibility, and high control compared with traditional rotational molding.
The EPA/CARB-compliant tank is molded in a precise process that allows for optimization of material and reduction of processing time by up to 50% compared to the industry average (27% for the fuel tank). A nearly endless array of fuel types can be accommodated, and the streamlined design is realized through a single-layer solution, contrary to other options on the market.
Robomold technology achieves high tolerances with precision-distributed heat and material control for consistent plastic part repeatability and optimized strength-to-weight ratios. The technology reportedly allows for design flexibility, including the ability to layer different compounds and coatings into finished parts. In-house tool design is also critical for controlled and focused heat to specific areas on the funnel feature, thereby achieving improved threading and accounting for changes in wall thickness.
Coveris Launches Recyclable Thermoforming Film for Medical Products
Formpeel P reportedly achieves the same level of functionality and safety as conventional medical packaging materials in a more sustainable profile.
Flexible packaging specialist?Coveris has launched a recyclable thermoforming film suited for medical device applications. The Vienna-based company introduced Formpeel P at the Compamed trade show currently underway in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Formpeel P joins Coveris’ portfolio of sustainable materials, which also includes Formpeel T, Flexopeel T, and Cleerpeel. It provides the same functionality and safety as traditional materials, while minimizing packaging and product waste, said the company.
Co-extruded?puncture-resistant Formpeel P film is available on a peelable polyethylene (PE) or polyolefin (PO) base. Combined with a sustainable lidding film, the thermoformable polyamide-free bottom films comprise a sustainable packaging alternative for medical products. The materials withstand ethylene oxide, plasma, and gamma sterilization. Together with Cleerpeel, a transparent pouch based on oriented PE/PE?film, both solutions allow for the sterile extraction of medical products, optimum protection. and ease of use using sustainable resources, said Coveris.
Sustainability is a core value at Coveris, according to Jan-Willem Bruijsten, who is the medical segment director. “At Coveris we have built our entire strategy around a vision of No Waste because we believe that fighting waste in all its forms is the driving force behind a more sustainable future.”
To further this goal, Coveris launched the ReCover division earlier this year to?develop?unique recycling solutions for the packaging industry. “The game-changing waste repurposing process is closing the loop by using a highly effective de-inking and mechanical recycling technology, reusing high-quality feedstock from plastic packaging to produce new packaging material,” explained Bruijsten.??
Coveris is presenting its full medical packaging portfolio on stand J25 in hall 8B at Compamed, which runs through Nov. 16 at Messe Düsseldorf. The medtech supplier showcase in halls 8A and 8B shares the messe with Medica, the world’s largest medical technology trade show, also running through Nov. 16.