Document kDJVRGMaDkvdj36vg8qBM4vmD

lD.Lnvinuch Effective reclamation and reuse techniques are emerging to meet the challenge posed by tougher dispos ability standards. They could also dissipate suspicions that have hampered PVC growth in some markets THE 1990s are shaping up as an age of garbage glut and diminishing landfills. In such an era, materials choices in packaging, and indeed in all landfillbound end-uses, are increasingly going to depend on more than just cost and performance. Processors and suppliers of polyvinyl chloride are going to have to con vince end-us ers--and the nation's regulators and lawmakers--that PVC is suited for dis posal when a product's useful life ends. One controversial aspect of this issue is vinyl's impact when fed into an in cinerator. Even more pressing (due to the top billing accorded to recycling in the hierarchy of waste disposal goals adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) is vinyl's viability in reuse, pvc, long subject to attack on grounds of safety and health, now con fronts the challenge of meeting ever- tougher disposal standards. "Vinyl can be safely disposed of by any currently proposed waste manage ment method--recycling, landfill or in cineration," declares Roy Gottesman, executive director of the Vinyl Insti tute, a division of the Society of the Plastics Industry. A recent ruling by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration suggests that some of the nation's regu lators have yet to be convinced. The fda case involves a petition seeking ap proval for pvc use in liquor bottles. Last November, FDA responded by ordering its staff to prepare an environ mental impact statement covering many aspects of PVC's role in solid waste. One doubt cited by FDA con cerns PVC's efficacy in reuse; the agen cy has plied its investigators with questions covering the current methods and scope of PVC recycling, possible emissions of hydrochloric acid during pvc incineration and even recycling, and the effects that the adoption of vi nyl might have on reuse programs for other materials. The FDA move permits all current PVC uses to continue, but postpones a final decision on PVC use in liquor bottles for perhaps as long as five years. FDA also cited research that it says shows possible links between the burn ing of PVC and a recognized health threat: increased emission of dioxins and furans. In response, industry sources insist that vinyl is as safe when incinerated under proper combustion conditions as is any other plastic or competitive material. They point to re search purported to substantiate this claim (Sep 87 MP, 12). FDA's decision leaves a cloud over PVC's future as a packaging material. The industry's fate rests in part on its ability to gain political recognition of its safety record in incinerators. From a pragmatic view, its success in getting a viable post-consumer recycling pro- ft- n MOOEPN PLASTICS Marcn 1969, copvriqht 1969 bv McGrow Hnl Inc . with all rtqnts reserved R&S150283 gram off the ground could counter much criticism. Should current efforts in both spheres fail, then angry citi zens, draconian regulations, and ad verse decisions by pvc's major end-us ers could threaten a slowdown, or even decline, in existing markets as well as dim prospects in such emerging mar kets as the water bottle. Competitors are anticipating pvc's dilemma. In a recent speech, Himont Inc.'s CEO, Alexander J. Giacco, inter preted new regulatory shifts in Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany as indicating that those nations view the polyolefins as the "environmentally clean" large-volume plastics. This shift favors material substitutions away from PVC and polystyrene and in favor of polypropylene over the next few years, in Giacco's view (see p. 10). Part of the solution? "PVC, a thermoplastic, is an eminently recyclable material," Gottesman says, voicing industry optimism about the potential for PVC recycling. The prac tice of post-consumer pvc reuse, how ever, is in its infancy. The little that is recycled in the U.S. goes into mixed, or commingled, scrap plastics where, in the view of some, it can be a nuisance. Spokesmen for BFGoodrich's Geon Vinyl Div., a major pvc supplier, note some of the ironies in PVC's portrayal by environmentalists as "beie noire" in the solid waste crisis. One is vinyl's tru ly minuscule contribution to the munic ipal waste stream. In 1987, all poly mers contributed just over 7% by weight to the 160-million-ton total mu nicipal solid waste (MSW) in the U.S. Since pvc accounts for 12% of total U.S. resin production, it would appear to represent about 1% of the total load. In fact, pvc's role is relatively small in short-lived packaging and rela tively greater in durable goods that stay out of the waste stream longer. BFGoodrich sources estimate that pvc actually contributes no more than 0.2 to 0.3% to the landfill-bound msw. Don Knechtges, BFGoodrich's vinyl marketing director, suggests also that the existing pvc market structure is perfectly suited for recycling. Vinyl markets form a pyramid in which a RECLAIMED VINYL FINDS A UTILITARIAN SECOND LIFE Existing reuse outlets for PVC pre- and post-con sumer regrind are nonspecified drainage pipe (extruded by TBA Inc.) and molded floor tile grids (designed by Turtle Plas tics). In numerous other existing markets, such as PVC fences (PVC com pound supplied by BFGood rich), there is considerable potential for reuse. narrow apex of short-life, demanding, higher-cost materials (bottles, film, win dow profiles and blister packs) sIt*^top a broad base of long-life, less demand ing, lower-cost markets (including drainage pipe, conduit, and a host of smaller applications). The most logical recycling scenario calls for a simple "cascade" of reuse from higher-end, first-use to lower-end aftermarkets. A leading engineering resins supplier. General Electric Plastics, was first to theorize such a system. Critics claim GE's proposed low-end uses are cur rently little mom than hypothetical. In contrast, Knechtges notes the existing structure of pvc markets lends itself well to recycling. Chuck Gruber, market manager for Rohm & Haas, supplier of additives for pvc, describes vinyl as one of the most versatile of materials. He says PVC is rarely used neat; formulation gives vi nyl its utility. Since its inception 50 years ago, compounders and processors have perfected this art. "The pvc in dustry can draw on a broad base of knowhow and a wide ar ray of additives of all types for use in doctoring polymer in myriad ways," Gruber says. While pvc's "additives feast" is clearly an advan tage in some cases, in oth ers it creates problems. An example is the use of lead-based additives by some makers of wireand-cable jacketing. Con cerns about lead's safety in the environment make the notion of regrinding' materials containing it problematic. Another heavy metal, cadmium, is used in certain stabilizers and pigments for PVC and other plastics. According to a recent EPA report, 8661 tons of lead stabilizer were used in the U.S. in 1986 (200 tons of which was thought to have entered MSW) and 711 tons of cadmium (with 500 tons going to land fill). Much of this was in plastics use, especially PVC. A soon-to-be-published SPI report is said to show that plastics use of these metals plays a minor role in the overall problem. Progress is being made in solving problems associated with the use of heavy metals in pvc. The European pvc industry has already developed and is using alternatives to cadmium. A push to replace it in additives for PVC is under way in the U.S. Lead use is a more intractable prob lem because no effective substitutes for its use m wire-and-cable have appeared as yet. An apparently fruitful ap- B C/5 Cn O rv> oto* proach, however, is that of Reclaimers, Inc. Kendallsville, IN, one of about 100 copper* reclaimers operating in the U.S. Thii company employs a mechanical system that removes copper from vinyl and other plastics used in wire jacket* ing. Vinyl is cleaned to 99.6% purity and rerouted by the firm for use in sheet and molding applications. Stirrings of success D'Lane Wisner, BFGoodrich's Geon vinyl marketing manager, packaging, suggests that the pvc industry has al ready mastered many technical aspects of the challenges of recycling clean regrind via the internal reuse operations employed in many vinyl market seg ments. In pipe, extruded film and blow molding, for example, the great major ity of internally generated scrap is looped back into production. Efforts to reclaim large pockets of contaminated, pre-consumer waste not reusable in internal operations have been only partly successful. This source totals at least 400 million lb. annually, and industry estimates are that about three-fourths of it currently goes to landfill. Although this is less than 5% of all the PVc used in the U.S., it is a significant flow. The remainder of this contaminated vinyl stream feeds a sur prisingly virile PVC reuse industry. The dream of one participant, Tom Norton, president of Turtle Plastics, Cleveland, OH, is to find a useful outlet for every last pound of it. Norton estimates that some 70-80 million lb. of contaminated Pvc is cop per-contaminated wire-and-cable scrap. At least 100 million lb. more is auto motive scrap; another 15 million lb. is protective auto rub stripping. By Nor ton's estimate, the calendering industry yields an additional 70 million lb. The following examples further illustrate some of the strengths (and limits) of existing PVC recycling efforts. C Drainage pipe. Vermont Republic Industries (VRI), St. Albans, vt, cleans and regrinds landfill-bound PVC from several sources. One is a nearby factory that discards Pvc devices used to ship computer chips. Trim is also generated by an adjacent Eveready Battery Co. plant that displays its flashlights in pvc clamshell blister-packs. A third source is Aim Packaging, Pt. Clinton, OH, a pvc blow molder, which seeks an aftermarket for bottle rejects contaminated by paper labels. VRI routes these feedstocks to TBA Inc., Louisville, KY, a PVC drainage pipe extruder. There, the regrind is fed into 600-lb./hr. extruders that make 6in.-diameter pipe designed for a 50-year underground work life. Pipe is nonspecified, as current National Sanitation 'Samplerof U.S. effortsto recycle landfill-bound PVC' Company/location Role* Materials source* Remarks AIM Packaging, Port Clinton, OH Source of merchant scrap Sends bottles for which label choice precludes internal recycling to makers of drainage pipe and of molded packaging for auto windshields. Cleveland Reclaim/ Turtle Plastics, Cleveland, OH Compounder, reclaimer, processor 1.2,3,4, 7 Claims to have pioneered reclaim of contaminated auto rub strips for reuse in urinal screens, floor mats, handles. Latest products-- auto traction pads and wheel chocks. Plastic Compounders, Inc., Compounder Haverhill, MA Compounds copper-free `transition' scrap engendered in wire coating operations on toll basis for reuse in low- voitage cords and molded insert plugs. TBA, Inc., Louisville, KY Vermont Republic Industries, Inc., St. Albans, VT Processor 1,2,3,4 Draws on bottle, credit card, blister pack, circuit board carrier feedstock to produce non-NSF drainpipe. Reclaimer 1,2,3,4 Reprocesses extruded circuit board holders and other scrap for drainage tile. Foundation codes require that regrind be used only in the specific plant and formulation in which it was originally used. Regnnd, however, is useable in large segments of the drain pipe market that often do not require NSF and other approvals. TBA's vp. Tom Brooks says the additives-rich regrind PVC materi; is used in letdown as concentrate to make pipe that is tougher than virgin pipe by virtue of a high impact modifi er content. "Consumer items. The U.S. auto in dustry uses about 150 million lb. of Oxychem, Georgia- Gulf Corp. and BFGoodrich are also under way. BFGood rich is testing the properties of Pvc re- grind. Research shows that additives- rich pvc bottle com pounds retain suffi cient properties to be viable in such after- markets as nonfood bottles, pipe fittings, and drainage pipe. And work is being done to improve vinyl labels as a way of fos tering reuse. An important step PVC shipping devices for re-use in pipe are inspected by Albin Voegele of Vermont Republic. [Photo, Oxychem] forward in separating curbside-collected pvc bottles is the PVC annually as protective stripping to adoption by SPi in mid-1988 of a volun which adhesive and decorative film is tary recycling code. One of the first applied as profile exits the extruder. U.S. blow molders to adopt the code, Given a 10% downstream scrap rate, which involves a mold change to in this produces about 15 million lb. of clude the letters pvc and numeral 3 in contaminated PVC that was, until four side a reuse logo, is Schoeneck Con years ago, landfill-bound. Today, Tur tainers, Inc., New Berlin, Wl. "I like tle Plastics cleans, regrinds and molds the idea that the bottle we make today it into various useful items. The major could end up as a fencepost, pipe, or established application is a floor tile possibly even a welcome mat tomor used in light trucks and workshops. row," remarks Bill Smith, president. A Aquarium tubing. Recoverable Re more radical approach (and one that is sources Inc. (R2B2), Bronx, NY, aims likely to affect U.S. recycling in the to tap independent pickup networks as next few years) is being taken by a Eu a way to revive industry and create ropean joint venture project. The oper jobs in some of New York's most dete ation, formed by three West European riorated neighborhoods. One of its suc resin suppliers, has a plant in Ferrara, cesses involves a local firm that pack Italy, that employs an electromagnetic ages hardware items in calendered pvc scanning technique, tradenamed Tech- blister packs that generate large vol noplast, to identify and separate poly umes of trim. This had previously been ethylene terephthalate from pvc bottles sent at high cost to a landfill, but a automatically. The 10,000-lb./day facil year ago the landfill operators declined ity reuses Pvc in tubing and pipe. to take it any more. Now, R2B2 sepa "The greatest potential for post-con rates, cleans and sells it to a local pro sumer pvc bottle reuse is in the non- cessor who in turn extrudes the materi carbonated water bottle market," re al into aquarium tubing. marks Bill Carroll, Jr., technology Post-consumer recycling. The items director at Occidental Chemical Corp., best suited to getting the reuse of curb- a pvc supplier. He says prospects for side-collected pvc under way are bot PVC capturing a big share of this mar tles, which use some 230 million lb. of ket are excellent, due to vinyl's clarity, PVC annually in the U.S. Obstacles are low-cost, and the low odor and taste that the bottles go into diverse end- transfer of recent compound offerings. markets (shampoo, vegetable and salad "It's the perfect candidate for recy oil, creamer, peanut butter, water); the cling," adds Richard LaRue, Oxy- rate of turnover of bottles in PVC mar chem's market development manager kets tends to be low; and none are easi for water bottles. He says PVC water ly recognized by the public (as are the bottles are distinctive. They are, more clear PET soda bottle and the translu over, unpigmented, and the mode of cent HDPE milk jug). their use probably means that little or Industry leaders are finding new no washing will be required. ways to reuse PVC bottles. To this end, Experience in France, where the PVC a consortium of six major pvc bottle bottle dominates the estimated 100-mil compounders and additive suppliers lion-lb. bottled water market, demon has been set up. Efforts by individual strates that efficient recycling of pvc I companies, including Rohm & Haas, water bottles is practical. Solvay, a leading Belgian pvc supplier, repons that nation's pvc bottle reuse system a success. The reclaimed powder is'Used by some end-users in the foamed inner- layer of drain pipe, pvc regrind also is j used to make vine stakes and (in gran ular form) as a soil reinforcer. Prospects for PVC reuse are also be ing pursued in siding and window-profile markets. The Vinyl Institute recent ly signed a contract with Vermont Republic Industries to identify recover able PVC sources in this and other mar kets. BFGoodrich suggests that a trend in siding (to coextrusion of a weatherable, additives-rich cap over a lowercost, low-additives-package substrate) could lend itself well to reclaimed ma terial use in substrates. Turtle's Norton sees considerable potential in buyback of profile regrind from construction in dustry networks. Performance of Pvc in commingled waste recycling is another area of inter est. Current practitioners are Polymer Products, Iowa Falls, ia (using a pro prietary system), and New England CRInc., N. Bellerica, ma. Process Plas tics, Ionia, MI, and The Center for Plastics Recycling at Rutgers Universi- PVC water bottles: a perfect recycling candidate? [Photo, Indian Springs] ty, NJ (which use the licensed ET1 sys tem). These turn commingled waste into plastic lumber. Experimental work on PVC in com mingled waste is being conducted at the center by Dr. Tom Nosker. In a first step, PET and HDPE milk bottles are removed from the stream, leaving a mixture that includes pvc. Nosker says the goal is to determine how different polymer mixtures affect properties of the residual stream. He claims research has shown no evidence of problems as sociated with pvc use in commingled streams. However, the presence of PVC and PS, which have lower melt tem peratures than other large-volume res ins, means the ET1 process must be run at temperatures low enough to pre vent offgassing or degradation.