Opportunities in plastics

Some environmental groups have characterized plastics as a problem, pointing to pollution in the world’s oceans as one such example.

Speakers during the session “The Outlook on Plastics” at the 2014 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, however, didn’t share such a view, with Ron Sherga of EcoStrate SFS, Dallas, instead describing this material as an “opportunity.”

Sherga said the biggest challenge in plastics recycling is end market demand. “Plastics have struggled with that,” he said.

Further hampering recycling is a lack of collaboration, Sherga said.

Despite these barriers, he said, “Plastic is and will be the material of the future.”
 

Jim Glauser, associate director of IHS, Englewood, Colorado, noted that the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycling rate in North America was 19.9 percent. Central and South America lead the world, achieving a 39.7 percent PET recycling rate, he added.

“The niche will remain for recycled plastics,” Glauser said. “Their end use is limitless.”

Lori Carson of Phoenix Technologies, Bowling Green, Ohio, said a number of plastics processors have been adding equipment and investing in capital improvements to address issues, such as full-sleeve shrink-wrap labels, they are encountering.

She noted that her company’s yield from domestic bales of PET has declined to 62 percent as contamination from No. 2 through No. 7 plastic has increased.

Among the challenges Carson said she sees regarding PET recycling are the diverse array of colors, shrink labels, barriers and lighter and smaller bottles. Also, declining soda consumption and growing water consumption present challenges to PET recyclers, she said, as water bottles are generally thinner than soda bottles and use PET resin with a lower IV (strength).

Tamsin Ettefagh of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene) recycler Envision Plastics, Reidsville, North Carolina, said that while PP lacks a large clear or natural supply and uses a number of additives, the material offers the greatest potential for growth among plastics, adding that it is the most widely used resin.

The 2014 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, organized by the Recycling Today Media Group, was Oct. 8-10 in Chicago at the Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile.