TECHNOLOGY | FILM
IMAGE: VEOLIA
Veolia gives support to Thailand plans
Thailand has an ambitious policy to limit plastic pollution, which can be supported by developing high quality recyclate from film waste, according to Veolia, which opened a PE recycling plant in the country in 2021. The waste management and recycling group says: “Only a small
fraction of plastic waste [in Thailand] enters into the circular economy, with significant discrepancies between rigid plastic packaging (PET bottles, HDPE bottles) and flexible PE films (with a recycling rate of less than 5%). The majority of the plastic waste ending up in landfill and leaking into the oceans are flexible plastic bags made of PE or PP.” New regulations and commitments are on the way in Thailand, including an EPR system which is expected to start in 2025, to finance more efficient collection (through segregation of the packaging types at source) and sorting. “These policies have an impact: we can see that the share of PCR in the formulation of new packaging is increasing every year,” says Veolia. “Veolia Circular Polymer Thailand offers a solution that both
supports reducing mismanaged plastic waste flows and serves companies which are willing to source sustainable recycled pellets,” says the group. The Thailand factory produces extrusion-grade rPE with a small
environmental footprint due to measures like a solar panel roof able to produce 230 MWh of electricity per month, internal waste water treatment process, and other features. “Our washing lines make us able to recycle plastic inaccessible for other recyclers, such as films collected from landfill. This technological leverage makes a real difference in order to produce high environmental value PCR without compromising on the quality of the pellets,” says Veolia. Veolia Circular Polymer Thailand is one of almost 40 plastics
recycling plants that form part of the PlastiLoop worldwide network of experts of Veolia. These range from PE film recycling plants in Spain, Czech Republic and elsewhere to a capability to produce a large slate of circular polymers developed for demanding applica- tions (PET, HDPE, PP, ABS, MMA, PS).
30 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | January/February 2023
ously challenging to separate and repurpose.” Saperatec has developed separation liquids based on different chemical mixtures for different applications. The process involves treating shred- ded laminate waste with the liquid which is warmed and stirred until the layers are separated. This is followed by washing, sorting and drying stages. The hot-wash separation fluids are water-based and solvent-free, and are reused more than 30 times in the process. The company says its delamination technology has been extensively tested in both materials science labs and near-industrial pilot environments. “The highly encouraging results are the impetus for the plant’s construction, as well as for significant investments from several leading venture capital investors,” it says. The initial focus for Saperatec’s delamination technology is composite flexible packaging materials and tube packaging with aluminium foil barriers, as well as plastics and aluminium from beverage cartons. Hoffmann Neopac last year became the first tube manufacturer to sign a partnership with Saperatec. The manufacturer of barrier tubes for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and oral care products will supply its production waste to the plant in Dessau. Saperatec has worked with partners to develop a
prototype detergent pack with 35% PCR content. Packaging film supplier Wentus manufactured the flexible pack, which is a two-layer design made entirely from PE, with the inner sealing layer comprising more than 50% PCR LDPE from bever- age carton waste. The outer layer is printed with less than 50% surface coverage, and laminated with Henkel‘s optimised adhesive for recyclability. A different delamination technology uses air
rather than liquid to separate flexible packaging layers. German company
Pla.to Technology, which makes cleaning, washing and separation technol- ogy for plastics recyclers, developed the separation process as part of a joint research project with Zirkon – Zittau Institute for Process Development, Recycling Management, Surface Technology and Natural Materials Research at the Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. The two-stage separation process is optimised for high film throughputs. In the first step, a newly developed conditioning process changes the aerodynamic properties of the single and multilayer films to varying degrees. This allows the materials to be sorted in the second step in an air sifter. To enable this separation,
Pla.to has adapted the separator to the materials to be processed and opti- mised it for the small bulk densities of film waste.
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