WASTE PLASTICS RECYCLING A GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

BY AND FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF RECYCLING

To investigate the ecological effects of the German DSD system, an analysis of the future
material flow was carried out for the DSD (2010 to 2020) by the ko-Institut e.V.
The major elements of the study were:
a system analysis which examined the question of how the Green Dot can contribute to
sustainable development
a comparative evaluation of the achievable ecological effects. To this end, the entire
consumption of energy and raw materials in the disposal of lightweight packaging and
the associated burdens on the environment were calculated and analysed
The study only dealt with lightweight packaging because it is uncontroversially accepted
that glass and paper recycling has a positive ecological effect. A total of five different waste
management scenarios with a number of sensitivity considerations were studied (see Table
3, below). The costs were analysed in a separate study. The following illustrations show the
life cycle values for complete mechanical recycling of the plastics.

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WASTE PLASTICS RECYCLING A GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

BY AND FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

Environmental aspects
Recycling waste plastics can be helpful for L/RAs wishing to make local environmental improvements,
locally, regionally, nationally and globally through:
avoiding wastage of resources.
reducing the need for new waste disposal facilities
limiting greenhouse gases emissions
Avoiding wastage of resources.
Plastic manufacturing, which largely uses crude oil as the raw material, is estimated by industry to
account for four per cent of the global consumption of crude oil. For every kilogram of plastic that
is produced, roughly two kilograms of oil are needed. However, the resulting product (because of its
lightweight, insulating and protective properties) can often save more oil - through reduced
transport and energy use processes - than is required in its manufacture. By replacing crude oil in
plastics manufacture with recyclate, raw material consumption decreases, whilst the efficiency of
plastic at end-of-life increases.
However, the main benefit of plastics recycling rests in the savings associated with primary energy
consumption. Polymer production accounts for the largest proportion resource use in plastic product
manufacture, ranging from between 72 91 per cent of total energy consumption, depending on
the polymer9 . This compares with process energy usage of between 6 - 20 per cent, dependant on
the product being manufactured (i.e. bottles, pipes or films).
By contrast, the process energy necessary to produce recycled PET flakes can be reduced to 62-92
per cent of the energy required to produce virgin resin10 . Similarly, reported energy savings of ~38
per cent can be achieved by processing LDPE films into granulate and 77 per cent process energy
savings made by reprocessing rigid HDPE bottles, compared to the production of virgin material11 .
Oil and gas are converted into monomers (e.g. ethylene). The successive steps in production (of e.g.
polyethylene PE), are very energy-intensive, requiring both high temperatures and refrigeration.
Ethylene consumes around 20 megajoules (MJ) per kilogram of ethylene produced12 . If the entire
production process is taken into account from the extraction of raw material from the earth to the
end product, the energy use is between 60 and 120 GJ/t for the different plastic types (see table 4)13 :

9- considering HDPE, LDPE, PET, PVC and PP. " Eco-profiles of the European Plastics Industry Report 10 : Polymer Conversion. " I. Boustead (1997)
A technical paper from APME.
10- " Life Cycle Assessment - LCA and the PET Bottle " V. Matthews (1998). Referenced in :
11- " An Analysis of the recycling of LDPE at Alida Recycling Ltd " M. Henstock (1992). A Report by Nottingham Univeristy Consultants Ltd,
Nottingham, UK and " Assessment of the environmental imapct of plastic recycling in P&G packaging " T. Deurloo (1990). Procter and Gamble
European Technical Centre, internal Report. Referenced in : " Integrated Solid Waste Managment : A life Cycle Inventory " (2nd Edition, 2001)
by F. Mcdougall, P. White, M. Franke and P. Hindle. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK.
12- Report of the Berkeley Plastics Task Force 1996, http://www.ecologycenter.org/plastics/report1996/report1996_toc.html
13- Eco-Profiles of Plastics and Related Intermediates Methodology, I. Boustead, Brussels 1999, and Association of Plastics Manufacturers in
Europe, LCA/Eco Profile fact sheets, www.apme.org , and Assessing the environmental potential of clean material technologies, EC/IPTS, Sevilla,
publication foreseen end 2002.

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