1992 National Waste Processing Conference 35

7/29/2019 1992 National Waste Processing Conference 35

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RECYCLING POST -CONSUMER POLYSTYRENE:

ECONOMICS, MARKETS AND TECHNOLOGY

ELIZAETH NEER AND JOHN TRAMAUniverity o WiconinMdion

Mdion Wiconin

ABSTRA

hi pper exmine the hndling nd proceingneeded to convert potconumer polytyrene (PS)wte into orm which will meet mrket peciction t i bed on ongoing economic reerch whichevlute the cot ocited with recycling potconumer PS

A prt o the economic nlyi the orting proceing nd mrketing cot or everl pilot PS recycling progrm re evluted he dierent type oequipment ued in thee pilot progrm re dicuedSome o the mchine re prototype Regionl mrketcondition well mrket peciction re decribed they exited in Summer 1991 New mrketnd new proceing equipment pper regulrlychnging the potentil reult

A with other recycled mteril the genertion rte

nd ource o the polytyrene well the collectionmethod ect the proceing option nd cot hephyicl chrcteritic o potconme PS nd

the

high percentge by weight o contmtnprtculy oodmy require dditionl proceing m t

he

orm o whing nd pelletiing to meet buyer pecction Additionl hndling nd proceing increethe cot o recycling potconumer polytyrene

INTRODUION

In Jnury 990 the Recycling Economic GroupDeprtment o Agriculturl Economic Univerity o

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WiconinMdion begn reerch project on thecot o collecting orting proceing nd mrketingpotconumer polytyrene he purpoe w to determine the economic eibility o recycling potconumer polytyrene (PS) he univerity w kedto undertke thi tudy reult o public policy

debte in the Stte egilture during the pge oWiconin Recycling w (Act 335 1989)

Under Wiconin Act 335 om polytyrene wtewill be bnned rom dipol in ll public nd privtelndll nd incinertor a o Jnury 1 1995 hiimplie tht Wiconin communitie will recycle ompolytyrene Public ocil reponible or implemening thi lw re o coure intereted in the cot octed with collecting proceing nd mrketing PS ominimie recycling cot they need uptodte inormtion on pproprite coteective equipment

n December 1991 the plnning report ubmittedby 85 locl municiplitie nd countie which hveopted to b ocil "reponible rycling unit werenlyed A mple o 339 o thee reponible unitindicted tht 3% pln to collect nd recycle polytyrene beore Jnury 1995 n ct 481% pln tohve PS recycling progrm in plce by Jnury 1994

Along wth foam PS, the folowing maters are also ?anned fromWsconsn land1ls January 1995: alumum contaers corrugated par, glass contaners, magaznes n

.ewspars

oce paper

plastc contaners stl contaners waste tr, and b-metal steel!alumnum contaners Wonsn Depatment of Natural Resouc data on 1991 munpal ryclng plans and budgets The analyss perform by membes


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he Wsonsn Legslature also debated a proposedsales ban o dsposable pakagng onsdered dutto reyle, nudng oam poystyrene Under the 1989reyng aw ommuntes an have a year varaneto exlude a matera rom ther reyng program no markets exst or t s "eonomaly mpratato ollet and market that matera he number o

ommuntes askng varanes or a reylable materalmay ndate to the State Legsature that the materalshould be allowed n andls, or alteatvely that tshould be taxed or banned hus the pasts ndustryalso seeks to mprove the eonoms o poystyrenereyng

he Wsonsn researh projet analyzes the ost oreyng extruded oam expandable bead (EPS) andrgd poystyrene plasts n severa plot PS

.reyng

programs Common onsumer polystyrene tems oeted nlude sngle servng hnged ontaners ("lamshes), beverage ups, meat trays and shaped andloosel pakagng ("peanuts) o determne the nom easblty o reylng postonsumer PS t neessary to understand and evauate the omponentso a reylng system: generaton, separaton oleton, proessng and markets

wo plot polystyrene reyng projets are operatedby establshed ommunty reylng programs: a munpa olleton program servng suburban sngeamly households and a rural nonprot reyln roessng enter servng an entre ounty In addton,two MDonalds restaurants agreed to partpate n a

study o ther 1990 poystyrene reylng program heourth projet evaluates the proessng abtes o anew pee o equpment that was used or washng,dryng and grndng oam polystyrene ups oleted atthe Mnnesota State Far durng August 1991

We wl dsuss the sortng proessng, peletzngand market optons and ther osts he soure o thepostonsumer polystyrene and the type o oleton salso examned as these ators aet the proeng andmarketng optons We ook at both resdental, andood serve postonsumer PS (Food serve generated

PS nludes restaurants, aeteras ars, sportngevents, et) Intermedary proessng o reyled materas s done n a wde range o altes rom munpamatera reovery ates (MRFs) to nonprot ommunty reylng enters to prvate operatons speal

of the "Economics of Recycling class Agricutural Economics,Universiy of Wisconsin-Madison, Fall 1991. 3 The only packaging actually banned in the na b1l was the aunum/plastic beverage can. Wisconsin Act 335 establishes strict nanca ctea under whca community may ask for varances

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80urce ofPoly.tD

FIG. FLOW CHART FOR PROCESSINGPOSTCONSUMER POLYSTYRENE FROM GENERAION

O MARKETS

zng n one or two materas Fgure 1 s a ow hartwhh shows the varous optons so ar dented n ourresearh

SORTNG OPTONS

What olows s a bre desrpton o the two olle

ton systems and the resuts rom waste haraterzaton sample studes perormed on eah

Residential Collection

In Aprl 1990, the resdents o snge-amy dwelngs n suburban Fthburg Wsonsn added polystyrene to ther exstng urbsde soure separaton oleton program As part o a 9-month plot study, nowontnung as a permanent program, the householdssorted rnsed and bagged ther oam polystyrene he

bags were plaed n the plasts ompartment o stakng bns and set out at the urb or weeky pkup andhaulng to a prvate reylng proessor A materaswere sorted by the truk drver nto 10 ompartments;the bags o polystyrene were tossed nto the same bnas HDPE plast (mk jugs and detergent bottles)

he nremental ost o addng poystyrene to thsexstng reylng program was neglgble Eduatonaland motvatona materas and spealyprnted 1galpast bags ($bag) were the added expenses; atual added tme or the olleton was nsgnant, andthe PS dd not overow the alotted spae ne eareranalyss o polystyrene reylng predted that oetng resdenta woud be "very expensve, though heauthors admtted that soure-separated olletonwoud be heaper than oletng poystyrene alone(Denson et a, 1990)

Athough the plot study oaly ended n January,1991 Fthburg ontnues to olet resdenta poysty-

'The poystyrene was collected aong with newsrnt, cardboard,mixed paper gass stee alumnum hgh denty poyethylene(HDPE) plastic and polyethyene teraphhalae PET) plastc (SeeGruderAdams, 1990)


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ABLE ICHBURG RESIDENIALPOSCONSUMER POL YSYREN E COLLECION

Components % By Wt

Packing PS 28%

Meat/Produce Trays 242%

Takeout Cups/Containers 118%

Reject PS 8%

Food, other non-PS waste 8%

Insulation 64%

Plates 64%

Egg Cartons 7%

Rigid PS 2%

Source: GruderAdams 990

rene Coleton osts are even ower a resdents nowput used PS nto ordnary used past groery bags

WASTE CHARAERZATON

hree bales o the Fthburg polystyrene (442 b total) were sorted and weghed he PS had been baledand stored outsde or 23 months beore t was ana

lyzed Although most resdents rnsed ther polystyrene some mod developed; pees heavy ontamnated wth mod were onsdered rejet PS (ruderAdams 1990) able 1 shows the perentage by weghto the varous omponents n those three baes o PShe oleton bags weghng 6 lb were not nludedn the analyss (However these bags were reyled aswere al o the plot program oleton bags)

Contamnaton was 1% o the total It appears romFthburg that resdental PS oleted n an estabshedreylng program omes n ean wth a mnmum o

ood wastespealy when ompared to postonsumer poystyrene separated nto spea bns at twoMDonalds restaurants n Madson (see below)

of Componets by Weight 1

(43.1%) 2.8%)IRigd PS

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6?IG 2 POYSYRENE RECYCING

(Anaysis of Recycing Bs)

o oo Weg 1Foam P (09%)

3%Paer 1Food (54%

IG 3 ANAYSIS O WASE BINS

Food Servie Colletion

Results rom a waste study onduted by the Reyng Eonoms group n January 1991 at two ast-oodrestaurants ndate that ustomers dd a very poor jobo sortng ther waste (see Fgs 2 and 3) Bns planymarked or poystyrene ontaned only 144% byweght o oam polystyrene pus 128% rgd PS Foodwaste and waste paper predomnated n the reyng

bns as we as n the waste bns Customers got onethng rght; the adjaent bns or waste reeved ltte

poystyrene; oam PS was 09% by weght and rgdPS was 32% Athough ustomers plaed the bulk othe PS n the orret bns they put even more ood andpaper waste nto the PS bns

Addtona eduaton may enable restaurant ustomers to more eetvely separate reyable PS romwaste In longer runnng reylng programs on theEast Coast MDonalds sta were statoned at the reylng and waste bns to show patrons how to sortther ood serve waste In ths ase however the

6 In ddiion o f conminns included oher plsics or composies such s polypopylene srws crem coniners nd csuppckges


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program had barely begun when MDonalds announed that t would soon swth rom oam polystyrene to paper wrappngs 7

Wth ths hgh ontamnaton rate ood servegenerated PS requres derent handlng and proessngthan resdental PS Consumers at ast-ood restaurantspresumably seek onvenene and tme-savngs per

haps t s logal that ontamnaton rates wll be hgherthan or polystyrene waste separated and olleted ata more lesurely pae n the home Removal o theontamnants and dsposal o the nonreylables wasteswll nrease the proessng osts

PROCESSNG OPTONS

Baling

In the Fthburg program the polystyrene olleton

bags were baled by a loal prvate reylng operatonthe Madson Reylng Center he bagged PS waspulled rom the HDPE ompartment o the olletontraler and stored n gaylord ontaners (3 X 3 torrugated ardboard boxes) untl enough had aumulated to bale (25 gaylordsbale) A n horzontalram baler wth manual eed was used to bale the polystyrene the rm also bales hgh densty polyethylene(HDPE) and polyethylene teraphthalate (PE) wthths baler he polystyrene bales vared rom 0160lb (Usng a dual ram paper baler as an experment

they produed one PS bale weghng more than 2 lb)he memory or shaperetanng ablty o polystyrene oam nreases the tme n the baler onsderablyIt took approxmately 2 hr per bale some bales werele n the baler oveght he same baler ould doour bales o HDPE plast at 5 lbbale n 1 hr Usngan average weght o 150 lb per PS bale we wouldget 5 lbhr or polystyrene versus 2lb/hr or theHDPa sgnant derene n proessng rate

he bales o polystyrene were shpped to LandllAlteatves In n Elbu Illnos where they weredebagged sorted washed dred and granulated hereyled polystyrene was marketed as granules or elseextruded nto pellets (ruder-Adams 1990)

he Madson proessor no longer bales Fthburgpolystyrene deemng ths too expensve He stores the

7 McDonalds and te Enionmenta Defense Fnd, makin a jointannouncement, did not omise to ecycle ae waes Ratetey omised continuin eseac includin te ossibility of comstin te ae and food waste8 Te bal wee not wei untl tey aed at maket Usin tet bales fom te waste samle ies a ounded aeae of 50 lb bale

Teleone inteiew Glen Myes Manae, on July 30 991

326

bags n gaylords and shps them to another proessngenter Wsonsn Interounty Nonprot ReylngIn (WINR) where t s washed dred and groundnto ake

Washer!Dryer/Grinder

Beause ood ontamnants an ause odor and vetor problems spealzed equpment has been developed to wash and dry postonsumer polystyrene Aspart o our researh we have been trakng the development o a spe washer/dryer/grnder system ntally desgned by engneers at Amoo Foam ProdutsCo and now n ommeral produton by PlastCyleIn o Eau Clare Wsonsn

Description of Machine

he PlastCyle Washer/Dryer s a ontnuous eed

system usng three separate rotatng hambers to washdewater and dry the PS An auger eed system metersand dstorts the materal to mnmze "nestng o ontaners Washng takes plae n a rotary hamberequpped wth statonary nozzles whh spray hghvelty hot water

Ater washng the polystyrene passes the dewaterngseton and then an evaporatve dryer removes theremanng mosture he hot water and the hot ar arereyled to onserve energy An othe-shel plastsgrnder produes ake PS whh s then blown dretly

nto gaylord boxes or storage and shpment he proess s smlar to that used by the Natonal PolystyreneReylng Company exept that the small sale equpment washes the PS whole whh redues he dryngtme

he apaty s rated at 2 lb/hr or oam PS and3 lb/hr or other thermoplasts he ost o theWasher/Dryer s $35 Dependng on the szegrnder pres range rom $8to $15

The Minnesota State Fair

In August 1991 we gathered data on the rst om

meral operaton o the ontnuous-eed washer/dryer/grnder system hs mahne was nstalled n abuldng on the State Fargrounds n St Paul Mnnesota Durng the 12 days o the ar polystyrene upswere olleted pressed on ste and shpped tomarket

0 WINR eied a ototy wase/nde fo PS in Setem1991 and its oatin cost data will aailable befoe te end ofte yeaI Coesondence and teleone inteews wit Dae Bestom

Geneal Manae PlasCycle, au Claie WI in June and July 199


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he Far Board et they ould redue ther wasteoleton and dsposal osts by usng a reylable beverage up hey requred that all ood vendors (350)se ther hot and old beverages n extruded oam polystyrene ups he Far Board purhased 43 mlon

ups o derent szes rom a sngle soure AmooFoam Produts welve hundred olleton bns (55gal) or poystyrene ups and an equvaent numbero waste bns were sattered throughout the 310 areFargrounds he oleton bns were plaed 1520 apart and usualy pared wth a smaller waste bn (30ga) Fargoers were expeted to sort ther waste ntothe approprate bns

Wth 15 mlon people expeted to attend the Fareduatng the publ about the up reyng was rtal here were prnted nstrutons on al the polysty

rene ups as wel as on the oleton bns All dalyevent shedules ontaned reylng nstrutons Sgnswere posted around the argrounds and news reeaseswere plaed n the loal meda For most argoersther "polystyrene soure separaton tranng beganwhen they purhased ther rst beverage

Usng a at bed traler whh held approxmately 50barres a oleton rew o 45 people repaed ulbns wth emptes several tmes a day he ul bnswere empted onto a onrete oor n a large moundnext to the washer/dryer Lqud waste owed nto

oor drans A bobat loader pushed the ple up to abelt onveyor ung the ple helped to dran lquds;t also alowed the lghter PS to rse to the top whlethe heaver ontamnants stayed on the oor

wo workers raked the ups onto an nlne onveyerbelt he materals el to a horzontal onveyer whereour workers separated nested ups and removed oodwastes and other pasts he PS ups then droppednto the eed hopper where they were augered nto thedrum washer he polystyrene was proessed at a rateo 12180 bhr wth an average o 150 lb he lne

was requenty stopped beause the grnder was notworkng well It was nally dsovered that the votageomng nto the budng was less than V. ne thevoltage was orreted the grnder perormed wel andthe throughput rate reahed as hgh as 250 lbhr

o determne how wel the pub was sortng outthe poystyrene ups a waste haraterzaton was perormed on nne randomly seleted 55-gal poystyreneoleton bns he ontents were sorted nto seven

2 Telephone nerview wih Ken Giannini, Minnesoa Sae Fairoard on July 0 1991 The ocial aendance ued ou o 488810

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TABLE 2 CONTENTS OF POLYSTYRENE RECYCLINGBINS AT THE 19 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR

Components % By Wt

PS C 2%

Foo Wate (Liqi & Soi) 0%

Paer %

Pati Ctery %

Pati Li %

Oter Pati 9%

Oter 8%

ategores and weghed A ull 55ga bn ontaned 1624 lb o materal o whh 8 lb were polystyreneups Food waste and e omprsed 818 lb o thetotal As only ups were olleted the bulk o the oodwaste was lqudwater rom e ubes and resdual

beverages Lemon rnds rom lemonade stands werethe most ommon sold ood waste wth an oasonal

renh ry or o obA 55gal bn holds approxmately 5 loosely paked

ups o assorted szes By weght lqud and ood wastewas the man ontamnant By voume the PS upspredomnated wth the qud wastes omprsng 12ga per bn ther ontamnants were mnmal heargoers dd a good job o "preproessng the polystyrene or reylng Even wth a good eduaton programand an nterested publ a szabe amount o ood wasteontamnaton wll stl need to be dealt when reylngood serve PS

Amoo reported that 30855 lb o the reyled akeor an estmated 225 mlon ups were shpped bak tother pant or use as reyled resn hs gves a apturerate o 50%

Far osts

he reylng osts rom oleton through to extruson are summarzed n ables 35 able 3 representsthe atual osts nurred n ths projet Severa assumptons were made to deveop the adjusted osts nable 4 hroughput was nreased to 2 lbhr toreet the orret voltage o V Wth the addedexperene t was assumed that the Mnnesota StateFar wll ut ther abor osts by 25%


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ABLE 3 MNNESOA SAE AR AUGUS 22SEPEMBER 2, 9


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TABLE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 2, 191(Adjusted Polystyrene Recycing Costs+ )

djt. Costs Ct/b Cost/yr Cpit Costs

olectIon Costsqint S3,8. ,104.1 S37,4.00 rre t, rier& M ,23.41 ,450.80 aes=7 y ie, other = 10 ya S S10,3.07 S12,1.00 are PrertiNet Coecti Costs S18,.53 $0.1

orting Costsqint $232. S245.14 S2,.00 2 conveyors0& M $2.8 S2.40 10 y He/hr/8 h day/5 day k 200orti rte /hr 44ar S ,485.3Net orting Costs ,2.4 SO.

Washi/Dryi Costs*qint 41.32 S2,.00 S35,000.00 Wsher/Dryer& M S7. S5,250.00 10 y ie/h/8 hr day/5 day k 200Machi Utities S.035 S1,0.3ar S/hr 15.00Net Washing/Dryi Costs S2,15.03 $0.

Griin Costs*qint S37.83 S255.00 S3,000.00 Grier& M 4.50 S300.00 10 yr ie/hr/8 h day/5 dy k 200Machi Utities S.01/b S3.55r S/hr 15.00Net Griin Costs S1,005. SO.03

Transrtti Costs*Tk Rt S50/day 00.00FS.10/mie x 180 mies S144.00ar-S12/hr 4h/trip S3.OO

Meas/ try s 8.00Net Trrtti Costs S7.00 SO.03

xtring Costs#uint S74.34 S11,050.00 S130,000.00 xtre& M S1,322.3 S1,500.00 10 y Heb/h/8 h day/5 day k 218.Machi Utiities S.08/b S2,4.40ar S12/hr (2 e) S3,385.23Net xtri Costs S7,25.33 SO.2

Reves Q S.35/b (S10,25.) (SO.35)Avoid Costs 7.50/ton (1,041.3) (0.03)

TTAL NT CT 27,252.1 0.

Note Aa depeciation caita cost mis 15X divid by poect ie o uint. Asss a 25X incease in a efficiey, excet fo exte, a 200 bs/hou pressi+ Fair usage is .5 x ua costs; uint us iny fo 12 days o Misot tate Fair. Washer/dyer a gie usage is j hs divided by 1040 hous/yea tis aa costs Asss fu oads of 24 gayords tk ti.# xte usage cacuat as job hs divid by 200 hous/yea tis annua costs.

ue to contaiion rate a esuting sceen changes 2 oe ui to oate exte.

ie

rte.

oleton and sortng equpment s used or basaly2 days/year, 95% o annual equpment and & M

osts were aloated to ths projet hs type o aountng s used or other apta osts at the Fargrounds as wel; many ar atvtes ost more than

they woud n a ontnuous year round operaton hsat does nrease the rea ost o reyng poystyrene

or other materas at spea events

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he washng dryng and grndng osts were notunreasonabe onsderng ths was the rst eld test o


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TABLE 5 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR AUGUST 22SEPTEMBER 2 (Cos Comparison)

rot Cost Costs/lb FAR Cost Cost/b Adst Costs Cost/b

Materias It 1,0 wk 3,85 ( 3, (Col l ti Costs:++Eit .a $3,8. $3,8& M .a. ,26.41 ,263.41ar S .a. $13,27057 S10,.7Net Cl lti Csts a. a. S21,433 $.69 S18,8.53 $061

rti Csts:++Eit .a S232 $22& M a. S298 S2.98bs/hr/8 hr day/5 ay wk 250 150 200rti te /hr 10 25 44ar 0000 S11,53000 ,5.63Net rti Cts 00.0 $0. S12,0. SO.39 ,2.49 .23

Washig/Dryi Costs:Eit 7.31 S542 41.32& M S10.96 S1,03839 S7.bs/hr/8 hr day/5 day wk 250 150 200

Machi Utilities S.05/lb S350.00 S1,093 S1,0.93ar S/hr S12500 S1,23 150Net Washi/Dryig Costs 3.27 SO S3,974 SO 1 S2,915.3

Grii Costs:Ent S962 $5044 $37.83& M S1442 S59.34 4.50bs/hr/8 hr day5 ay wk 250 150 200Machi Utilities S.01/lb S1000 S308.55 S3.55ar S/hr S150.0 S1,230.00 150Net Grii Csts S274.04 SO.03 S1,832 SO05 S1,005. SO03

rasrtati Ctsrk Rtal S50/ay .a. 000 0.0el$.10/mile x 180 miles a S216.00 $144.00ar-S12/hr 4hr/trip .a. S576.0 S.0Meals/ try s a $7200 8.00

Net Trasrtati Costs a. a S1,4.00 $0.05 S976.00 SO03

Etrg Costs#Eit $355.77 $749.34 $749.34& M $533.65 S1,32236 S1,322./hr/8 hr day/5 day wk 250 218 218.Machi Utilites S8/lb 0. S2,4.40 S2,4.40ar $3500 S3,385.23 S,385.23Net Etri Costs $2,09.42 O20 S7,92533 SO26 S7,925.33 $0.26

Revenes @ .5/lb (339500) (4) (10,2592) (O.5) (S10,25929) (SO5)Avod Costs @ 75/ton (7.50) (O0)

TTAL NET CT S,0192 30

a newly desgned mahne It s assumed that theseosts wll be redued urther he peetzng osts aredesrbed n the next seton

Pelletizig

Some post-onsumer polystyrene markets, nudngAmoo, preer to purhase pellets rather than bales orakes Amoo tested reyled ake or ther ndustral

lne n eary 1991 but ound t unsutable or ther spe-

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(S1,041) (O) (1,0413) (SO.0)

S7,14425 S120 S27,25261 SO

atons (see able 6).14hey are also oneed aboutpossbe ontamnaton probems wth ake PS Whenakes are extruded nto peets, the polystyrene sheated to OF, whh sterlzes the past and removes any etover blowng agents Aso, ndustry sused to purhasng vrgn past resns n a pelet orm;ths s the normal way to hande the matera

4 Cspndnc fm Ray Ptsn Gnal Manag, AmFam Pducts C Cippwa Falls Wiscnsin n Fbuay 20,

1991


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pstcnsumr P and $00 fr blc and shapmdd fam P $00/b f this pric is cald a transprtatin awanc his is up fr th prpningpric, in Fbruary, 99, whn thy paid a at $005/lb fr bth pst-cnsumr and pstindustrial plystyrn, bad and dlivrd t thir sit NPRC pays ssfr th pst-cnsumr plystyrn bcaus th dirty

bald fd srvic P rquirs thr sparat washingst rmv cntaminants If ths bals hav bn strdfr any ngth f tim, thr wi b cnsidrabl mldcntaminatin as wll

If it is cllctd in bags, th P must b dbaggdbfr baling his alws th liquid wast t drainaway h NPRC wants th wast t b "rasnabyclan in visual inspctin and prfrs bald pstcnsumr wast vr a hy f thy hav rcntrl vr th na quaity f th plts by dingthir wn srting, washing, drying, grinding and x

truding hy want ss than 5% by wight f thrplastics in thir na prduct 19h Amc Fam Prducts pant in Chippwa Fals,

Wiscnsin, has bn buying clan ad P fr $00$00/lb basd n quantity and quaity, and thy payshipping csts hy ar paying $03540/lb fr pllts h rcycld matrial is usd in th cr f apystyrn fam prtctin insulatin bard which isc-xtrudd with virgin P utr layrs th rcycldcntnt is arund 30% As prviusy mntind, thywuld prfr t buy th matrial alrady pltizd, andhav rd t wr with rcycling prgrams t hlpthm dvlp that stag f prcssing

h rax Cmpany, f Dan, Wiscnsin, is buyingxtrudd and ptizd pstcnsumr pystyrnfrm varius surcs, paying in th rang f $03540/lb h rcycld rsin is blndd with virgin plymr and usd in a varity f trays and thr fd srvicprducts

NPRC ss thir pstcnsumr plystyrn pltst svral typs f ndusrs: xtrudd bard fr cnstructin industry, hushld prducts, and c suppy prducts hy sl a rcycld crystal plystyrn

plt and ar tg f prducing high impact plystyrn (HIP) Dpnding n th grad, thy slthir plts frm $045/lb

Frty cnts pr pund is cls t th currnt pric frth virgin pymr (s ab 8) and in ur udgmnt,rprsnts in part a prcivd marting advantag f

Telephone ntevew and coespondence from Bll Matthe, SourceDevelopment Manager, Natonal Polystyene Recyclng Company,Lnconshe, IL on uly 1 1991.0 Telephone conversaton wth Bl Matthe of NPRC on uly 1,

199

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TABLE 8 MIWEST PRICES OR POSTCONSUMEROAM POLSRENE

Virgin PS $ 46-528

Clean baled PS

Clean laked PS $ lO20

Clean pelletized PS $ 35 40d

Acu pcs i ness oher wis notdas of Juy 1991

n b ouc: Naona PoystyreneRecycng Co. (NPRC) hicgo, IL

c ouc Aoco Fo Poucs, Chippwaas,

d ouc: Amoco Foam Producs

bing ab t r insulatin panls and thr nd prducts with signicant pst-cnsumr rcycd cntntHwvr, th pric f virgin pystyrn has bn drpping A ptntia marting advantag fr rcycd Pis its wr pric Rcycld P prbaby nds an 80% pric margin, as it is prcivd t b f ssrquality than virgin vn whn it mts th physicalspcicatins fr th appicatin

Bald P wuld sl fr $140/tn and ad Pwuld rang frm $$4/tn his is cmparabwith thr pst-cnsumr pastics bing sd t prcssrs h Grat Las Rcycling Pric Mart rcntyqutd car HPE at $ 1640/tn and car PE at$10 (Khrll, 1991)

CONCLUSIONS

Pst-cnsumr plystyrn prsnts uniqu rcycing chalngs h light wight, rigid, high mmry

charactristics that ma it an idal pacing r fdsrving itm transat int a buly, lw dnsity matriawhn rcycld his mans highr transprtatin, prcssing and marting csts pr pund than fr HPEand PE pastics rcycling

Basd n th Fitchburg, McDnad and Minnstatat Fair wast studis, thr is a signicant dirncin th cntaminatin rat btwn rsidntia and fdsrvic gnratd pystyrn which translats intdirnt prcssing nds, ptins and csts

Ibi.


11/11

Public events generate large volumes of single servingcups plates and other containers Early results indicatethat it is technically and logistically feasible to collectpolystyrene at these types of events Fairgoers at the199 Minnesota State Fair did well in recycling polysty

rene cups. The Fair Board is considering recyclingother types of polystyrene food service containers infuture years

Polystyrene recycling still needs more ecient compacting and processing equipment Residential collection costs can be kept low if PS is added to existingsource-separated collection programs but baling andgrinding costs must be brought down If the secondarymarkets for postconsumer polystyrene want a morehighly processed material than they demand for HDPEor PE the costs of recycling PS increase Althoughthere are opportunities to reduce the costs of recycling

polystyrene it is also reasonable to assume that thevarious processors will expect to be paid for the servicethey provide

Recycling programs do produce savings in avoidedcollection and disposal fees Currently post-consumerPS recycling is driven by legislative requirements orenvironmental considerations However unless landlldisposal is extremely expensive further reductions inintermediate processing costs are needed before mostcommunities would consider it economically feasible torecycle post-consumer polystyrene

ACKNOWEDGMENTS

This research has been funded in part by the USDepartment of Agriculture's North Central Regional

333

Center for Rural Development in Ames Iowa and theAmoco Chemical Company Chicago Illinois

We want to thank the following for special help: JimMcLellan Mark Meszaros Jack Felmlee Pete Butlerand Ray Peterson of Amoco; Dave Bergstrom of Plas

tiCycle; Bill Matthei of National Polystyrene RecyclingCompany; Glen Myers of Madison Recycling; KerstanLione ofWINR Carrie BennetBardt andWayne Harris of McDonalds; Sherrie GruderAdams of Fitchburgand our colleague Peter Anderson Recycling Economics Group University of Wisconsin-Madison

REFERENCES

Denison, R., Prince, J, and Ruston J. "Good Thngs come nSmaller Packages, Environmental Defense Fund Rort, December6 1990

GruderAdams, S "Residential Poystyrene Recycing Resource Recycling, October1990 7279

GruderAdams S "Ridentia Polystyrene Recycling: Economics and the Future Resource Recycling, May 1991 96101

Kohrell M. "Great Lakes Area Recycling Market Price Up date, Current Deelopments in Solid WasteUW-Extension April1991 p

Mnnesota State Fair Board "Minnesota State Fai RecyclingMinnesota State Fair Report October1991

Wor: Polystyrene; Post-Consumer Pastcs; Secondary Materas; Plastics Washer/Dye; PasticsGinder Pastic Reclaim Extruder; Markets for RecycledPlastcs

1992 National Waste Processing Conference 35

Documents

Transcript of 1992 National Waste Processing Conference 35