Chemical recycling has an irreplaceable place in the circular economy

If Slovakia is to achieve the set recycling targets, recycling requires co-financing, writes Vladimír Daniška, director of the Union of Mixed Plastic Waste Processors.

It is clear to everyone, even with a minimal perspective on the issue of plastic waste treatment, that chemical recycling will not solve the problem of plastic waste.

On the other hand, based on the current state of science and technology and the opinions of real experts - and not professors paid by private environmental organizations - it is clear that chemical recycling can significantly solve the problem of recycling hard-to-recycle plastic waste.

What we can confirm with certainty today is that from a chemical point of view, mixed waste plastics, which are otherwise non-recyclable, will be used as a secondary raw material in an environmentally friendly method to recover petroleum liquid and gas products produced with high efficiency.

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This will not only have a positive environmental impact, ie the reduction of landfilling of difficult-to-degrade and difficult-to-recycle plastic waste, which is associated with the uncontrolled release of harmful substances into the air and groundwater, but will also provide very valuable and irreplaceable natural raw materials.

The article by Monika Medovičová from the Friends of the Earth license plate association, which published the daily Odpady-portal.sk on this topic on January 29, 2021, contains several erroneous and misleading statements. I will allow myself to bring them to the right measure and substantiate them with concrete facts.

Chemical recycling provides certified fuel

In her article, M. Medovičová stated that "In the input material consisting of mixed plastic waste, the outputs are often too contaminated, so they do not meet the requirements for the use of this material as a raw material for the petrochemical industry, but also as a certified fuel."

I do not know exactly how it takes place in other countries, but in Slovakia the procedure for taking over waste plastics is in accordance with the provisions of § 9 of the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic no. 371/2015 Coll., Which implements certain provisions of the Waste Act, whereby the amount of delivered waste plastics is determined by weighing by weight and the received plastic is subjected to a visual inspection in order to determine whether it is waste plastics of quality parameters and origin contractually agreed .

Part of the visual inspection is to determine whether the plastics are contaminated with hazardous waste. Such plastics must not be taken over.

Existing separation technologies are so precise that, with the help of sensors, plastic analyzers and other devices, they can easily separate unwanted components in the waste that could cause problems in the subsequent chemical process.

Therefore, it is not possible to agree with the opinion that the fuel as an output product will not meet the requirements and standards for fuel if all the rules are followed.

Decree no. 228/2014 Coll. The Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, which lays down requirements for the quality of fuels and keeping operational records on fuels (as amended by No. 367/2015 Coll., 87/2020 Coll.), Also set requirements for the quality of secondary fuels originating from from waste.

This means that after the effectiveness of this standard, there are no longer very poor quality fuels, but only fuels that meet the requirements for secondary fuels in accordance with the applicable legislation. If a substance does not meet the requirements, it is not the fuel but the waste that must be treated as waste.

At the same time, it should be emphasized that in recent years, several thousand tons of problematic mixed waste plastic in Slovakia have been recycled by chemical recycling, where the output product was certified fuel that would otherwise end up in a landfill, cement plant or incinerator.

The study does not stand

In another of her claims, M. Medovičová refers to the conclusions of a study by two chemical engineers, which, according to the author, show that chemical recycling is not a technically, economically or environmentally appropriate solution to the problem of plastic waste.

However, after studying this study, I must conclude that its authors only took over old and unverified data. They did not bring any personal experience, no analysis, no evidence, no measurement results or any expert opinions.

The "assessment" submitted by the authors in no way meets the existing established criteria for environmental impact assessment under EU law, because within the EU, environmental impact assessment is a process that has precisely specified criteria and rules.

Ignorance of the issue is presented, for example, by the opinion "about the low quality of hydrocarbons," although the schoolboy already knows that a hydrocarbon of better and poorer quality does not exist.

Chemical recycling has support

On the other hand, the chemical recycling of plastic waste has been supported in recent years by several strategic documents, studies and assessments. I will recall some of them, including their important conclusions and suggestions:

European strategy for the plastics in the circular economy (page 14, point 4.3)

The impact of innovative solutions for advanced sorting, chemical recycling and better polymer design can be large.

New EU circular economy action plan "Towards a cleaner and more competitive Europe" (page 18, point 6.3)

The European Regional Development Fund, through Smart Specialization, LIFE and Horizon Europe, will complement private funding for innovation and support the whole innovation cycle to bring solutions to market. Horizon Europe will support the development of indicators and data, new materials and products, the replacement and elimination of hazardous substances based on a "safe by design" approach, circulating business models and new production and recycling technologies, including exploring the potential of chemical recycling, taking into account the role of digital tools. in achieving the goals of the circular economy.

Environmental Policy Strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 (Chapter 10)

Towards a circular economy, a target is set: "By 2030, the recycling rate of municipal waste, including its preparation for re-use, will increase to 60% and by 2035 its landfill rate will decrease to less than 25%."

Expert opinion The method of thermal depolymerization of plastic material and equipment for its implementation prepared by prof. Ing. Ivan Hudec, PhD, director of the Institute of Natural Synthetic Polymers STU

The obtained mixture of liquid hydrocarbons can be used as a raw material for the petrochemical industry for the production of new organic products or as a substitute for liquid fuels obtained by oil processing. In this way, fossil resources are saved and at the same time valuable raw material or easily storable and usable liquid fuel is obtained from the waste. The facility does not burden the environment with large amounts of fumes and greenhouse gases and can significantly contribute to the treatment of difficult-to-recycle plastic waste.

Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions - Communication on a European strategy for the plastics in the circular economy. Development of sorting and recycling technology

It strongly supports research and innovation in new sorting and recycling technologies, including depolymerisation. Theoretically, this could solve many of the current problems with sorting and recycling plastics.

CEFIC opinion in March 2020

Much more waste plastic needs to be recycled to meet ambitious European targets. In this context, CEFIC emphasizes the potential for chemical recycling of plastic waste.

European Environment Agency (EEA) Report, March 2019 (p. 32, paragraph 4. 3)

In plastics production, emissions can be reduced by improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources (to 3.7 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of plastics). By comparison, with low mechanical recycling (involving cleaning, remelting and modernization steps), CO2 emissions are 1.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of plastics, while with chemical recycling (such as pyrolysis, where plastics break down into monomers or chemicals, CO2 used as raw materials for new products) the calculated CO2 emissions are 1.0 tonne of CO2 per tonne of plastics. Assuming that potentially 56 per cent (pyrolysis and depolymerisation), this would roughly reduce emissions from 233 to 144 million tonnes of CO2 per year, compared to the production of new plastics and their end-of-life incineration (Material Economics, 2018).

Memorandum of Cooperation / Duslo Šaľa /

A document in which Duslo Šaľa expressed interest in purchasing chemical recycled material from mixed plastic waste per year in volumes from 10,000 to 40,000 tons, serving as a raw material for the petrochemical industry.

Chemical recycling removes hazardous substances

In the next part of her article, M. Medovičová claims that chemical recycling releases a toxic environment into the environment. "Plastics contain a wide range of chemicals, and high-temperature processing of plastics makes them even more. Toxic substances remain in new and by-products and are eventually released into the air, especially if these products are used as fuel, "writes the author.

It is true that plastic products contain a wide range of different additives and chemicals. However, it is precisely the chemical recycling process that, thanks to the cleaning process as an essential part of it, ensures the removal of these chemical additives.

Thus, second-generation plastic products made from chemically recycled plastics do not contain unwanted chemical additives and substances, unlike plastics that have undergone a mechanical recycling process. Air is not present in the thermal degradation process, so nitrogen oxides cannot be formed and thus the formation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCDD and PCDF) is limited.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are currently among the most monitored groups of organic pollutants in the environment. In the case of thermal degradation at temperatures in the range of 300 - 430 ° C, the so-called flame retardants or metals because these substances decompose at higher temperatures. Those are the facts.

The goal is to produce recycled material

According to another statement by M. Medovičová in the article, chemical recycling is not in accordance with the circular economy. "The resulting product is mostly fuel for energy use. Only a very small amount of processed plastic becomes plastic again. Therefore, chemical recycling currently has no place in the circular economy. It is not competitive due to the energy intensity of the process and the problem with the market placement of the output product, "said the author.

This objection is based on the premise that the output of the chemical recycling process is the fuel used in the subsequent combustion process for energy production. In that case, it is possible to identify with that objection in full.

However, the objection does not reflect the essential fact that practically all currently developed chemical recycling technologies aim at the production of recyclate, which serves as a substitute for primary fossil raw materials in the production process of new plastic products.

On the contrary, such a procedure and such application are in full compliance with the principles of circular economy and, in appropriate combination with mechanical recycling, represent a powerful tool for contributing to the closest possible cycle of plastics - plastic waste - primary petrochemical raw materials. The aforementioned Memorandum of Cooperation is also a confirmation of such a development, and we are only in a small Slovakia.

Another statement in the article that "on the basis of current knowledge, it is necessary to assume that material recycling is fundamentally more environmentally and economically advantageous than chemical recycling," cannot be identified.

In this case, the author made a mistake, because material recycling is mechanical as well as chemical recycling in the event that after the process, the waste becomes a product. However, if the author had in mind a comparison of mechanical and chemical recycling, it should be emphasized that the European Environment Agency's (EEA) Report of March 2019 states the exact opposite. Emission reductions are greatest in chemical recycling.

At the same time, it should be added that the use of final products in chemical recycling is incomparably higher than in mechanical (95%: 10%).

In addition, it must not be forgotten that the possibilities for mechanical recycling, which we all support, are limited due to the increase in the proportion of residual components in each cycle. However, the author of the article is not at all aware that a significant part of mixed plastic waste cannot be mechanically recycled. Recycling efficiency is 95%: 50% in favor of chemical recycling.

Chemical recycling is part of the solution

In sharp contrast to M. Medovičová's objections and statements about the hopelessness of chemical recycling are also reports from the environment of the largest chemical concerns in the world.

Especially since 2020, it is also possible to monitor the flood of news and announcements and implemented and prepared projects aimed at chemical recycling of various types of waste plastics in the publicly available media..

All these implemented and prepared projects are in full compliance with the principles and place of chemical recycling within the waste management hierarchy, as I described them in this article. , which after variously complex cleaning process (which is the essence of these technologies) serves as a direct substitute for fossil raw materials in the petrochemical industry.

Although chemical recycling will not solve the problem of plastic waste, while respecting its logical place in the waste management hierarchy, it can make a significant contribution to this solution.

If, as a country, we want to meet the set recycling rate targets according to the agreed% volumes and time horizons, we must first and foremost adhere to the waste hierarchy and the European strategy for plastics in the circular economy.

It is necessary to function the entire waste management system in Slovakia, namely true waste statistics, clear categorization of groups of not only packaging but also non-packaging products, transparent and fair redistribution of recycling fees and simplification of legislative processes for obtaining permits for material recovery.

In order to achieve the set goals in Slovakia, we must co-finance all types of recycling, not only by supporting operation through recycling fees, but also by acquiring innovative technological equipment and supporting projects focused on research, development and application of technology for recycling.

Vladimír Daniška
Director of the Union of Mixed Plastic Waste Processors