Maintaining cost-effective operations is the only way to make plastics recycling work in Europe, or plastics processing could move offshore. That was the suggestion of Dutch presenter Peter Daalder to attendees of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Spring Convention, which took place last week in Madrid.
Daalder, of Daly Plastics BV, Lelystad, Netherlands, told attendees that major investments made by European companies in the plastics recycling arena failed to provide an adequate return.
Smaller firms have been able to process 2,000 metric tons a year somewhat profitably while investing just $45,000 in plant and equipment. A larger firm might typically invest $8.5million in plant and equipment to process 20,000 metric tons. Daalder stated that such massive investment was not the key to success in a segment with thin profit margins.
The potential future of plastics recycling could mirror what has happened to other low-margin manufacturing industries in Western Europe and the U.S, he suggested. Using the textile industry as an example, Daalder noted how large factories had been closed as production was moved to low-wage countries, where it often took place in smaller plants. It was not inconceivable that the same development could overtake plastics recycling in Europe, he stated.
If technology is going to come to the rescue, professor Wijnand Dalmijn of Delft University in the Netherlands noted that it had to provide a bridge “between science and reality.” The reality was that a plant must be capable of being runeconomically.
In addition to sink/float systems and electrostatic separation, X-ray transmission is being explored to separate PVC from plastics mixtures. Such sensing technologies could be combined with appropriate computer software in separation equipment costing a total of around $175,000, said Dalmijn.
Current European plastics markets are fairly strong on the demand side, according to both Daalder and Bernard Tavernier of Federec Plastiques, Paris. Daalder expressed some concern about primary resin production overcapacity affecting pricing in a negative way in the upcoming months.