Recycle or BUST! - Alfred State

Recycle or BUST!

James W. Garthe, PEAgricultural Engineer and Instructor

aka, The Recycling King

Today you will hear …

- Brief history of dealing with waste - Hierarchy of solid waste management- Our lifestyle and sustainability- Take another look at plastics- Plastic-derived fuel project at PSU- What you can do for our future

History of Solid Waste Management

“When the trash accumulates it should be hauled to some out-of-the-way place, such as a gully, or buried.”

1940s

Sub-surface landfill

Incidentally, in the early 1970’sa new word came into use:“Recycling”

Surface landfill

2010s Recycling

Energy from Waste

Landfill

Landfill gas recovery

Hierarchy of SWM

+ Littering+ Open burning

+ Illegal roadside dumping

or Energy Recovery,Energy from Wastes,Waste to Energy

More on thislater

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Burn barrel (open burning is legal in PA)

Illegal roadside dumping

Littering

Our Lifestyle and Sustainability

(1958)

There’s a widening

disconnectwith

nature

(1958)

(1958)

(2010)

Affluence abounds

Affluence abounds whileenergy is cheap!

Archeologists note societal shifts

William Rathje and other archeologists say all civilizations have undergone a predictable pattern of existence.

The Mayans, the Incans, the Romans…they all have progressed through three-phases.

Rathje notes society starts with,

“their Florescent Period, when they begin a dramatic rise;their Classic Period, when they reach a pinnacle; andtheir Decadent Period, when they decline and finally colllapse.

All of the great cultures have followed this simple trajectory.”

The energy infrastructure established hundreds of years ago, today has made society lazy and wasteful.

Society is apathetic(It’s someone else’s problem)

*

* Strike this word from the dictionary! Implies out of sight, out of mind!

There are two sustainability “E’s”…

Economy

Environment

Is there light at the end of our tunnel?Yes. But to see it, we must change ourlifestyle.

Let’s reflect.

Relative to fossil fuel consumption and waste generation, our lifestyle is NOT sustainable.

We must veer from strictly economics and transition to…

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Take Another Look at Plastic

Let’s look at 5 examples of worldwide waste plastic issues called to my attention over the past few months.

Case # 1Pesticide-treated mosquito netting inMozambique

Mozambique plastic bed netting details:- 0.5 kg per net, 3-5 year life- Pyrethrum pesticide impregnated- Mat’l: Polyethylene & polyester- 130,000,000 in use- 250,000,000 expected- Recycled market: 80,000 metric T/yr.

Problem: “What do we do with all thiswaste plastic?”

Case # 2John Deere cotton picker in USA

John Deere plastic wrapping details:- 4.5-5 kg wrap per bale- Mat’l: Polyethylene- Thousands of bales per ginner- 1,000 ginners in USA alone

Problem: “What do we do with all thiswaste plastic?”

Case # 3Metallized plastic film packagingin India

Metallized Packaging Films- Metals bonded to non-metals- Metals are aluminum, stainless steel,

chromium, copper and others- Metal film is 20 microns thick- Only film not recovered by pickers

Simply Sustain LLC. All Rights Reserved.

TRADITIONAL NEW

CHANGES IN PLASTIC USE IN RETAIL SECTOR

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18227/�


Households

Primary Collection

Roadside Bins Transfer Points

Dumps & Landfills

Secondary Collection

Merchants

Brokers Recycling Industry

Streets

Cabadiwalas

Rag pickers

Rag pickersRag pickers

Waste Route

Recyclables Route

Waste and recycling management system in India

From: Improving Solid Waste Management in India; Report by The World Bank, Da Zhu, et al

41



The “informal” sector of rag pickers in India

42



Sort and retrieve anything of value

43



Retrieval occurs even in small quantities

44



Plastic pouring spouts are extracted with knives!

45


Again, “What do we do with all this waste plastic?”

We did a quick test in ABE.

“Jim, this is no longer trash. It’s energy and jobs for the Indian people.”

Plastofuel®

Case # 4Plastic product mfgr. inUSA

Berry Plastics- Largest producer of ag film in world- 16,000,000 kg / yr. in this GA plant- Mat’ls: PET, LLDPE blends, EVOH- Investigating customer recycling program

Problem: “What do we do with all this waste plastic?”

Case # 5Marine environment plastic pollution

© 2010 Green Ray Marine Solutions

The Mare Verde ProjectTurning the Tide Against Marine Pollution

(source: NOAA) (source: Dimitar Dilkoff)

© 2010 Green Ray Marine Solutions 51

A technological and educational initiative

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How much debris is in the ocean?

• 100 million metric tons, 25 million tons added each year• Between 60-80% of all litter is plastic, sometimes 95%• 14 billion tons of total garbage


Great Garbage Patch (source: Flyaddicts) Plastic sea (source: coastal wiki)

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Debris size range:

• Everything from drift nets to micro-pellets• Plastic bags, bottles, fishing line


Ghost net (source: 20tv) Plastic soup (source: Charles Moore)

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There are 5 marine debris gyres

Mainly high concentrations of tiny shredded plastics and chemical sludge that have spun together by oceanic currents


(source: Permaculture Research Institute)


Dolphins, seals and sharks starve and choke in ghost nets


(source: NOAA)


Sea turtles mistake bags for jellyfish


(source: Greenhouse Carbon Neutral Fdn.)


Midway Atoll called the “Albatross Graveyards”


(source: Chris Jordan)


“Nurdles” get in the digestive tracts of birds & fish


(source: Algalita Marine Research Foundation)


There is now 6 times more plastic debristhan plankton in the North Pacific Gyre


(source: Australian Institute of Marine Science


Debris releases toxic chemicals such as DDT and PCBs that are linked to kidney/liver problems, cancer and

other diseases that enter our food chain


(source: Algalita Marine Research Foundation)


Plastic bags damage coral by suffocationand blocking sunlight


(source: EPA)


Creek in Manila, Philippines


(source: Francis R. Malasig)


Somewhere in North America


(source: Photobucket)


Hawaiian Islands Beaches


(source: NOAA / AP) (source: EPA.GOV)


Yamuna River, India


(source: Manan Vastsyayana )


Vacha Dam, Bulgaria


(source: Dimitar Dilkoff)


Citarum River, Indonesia


(source: photobucket)


Again, what is the Mare Verde project?

A) Destroy marine debris with clean burning technology, or… B) Convert it into an alternative fuel source, and… C) Promote a public awareness campaign through existing initiatives


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Plastic fuel project at Penn State

Our first target hasbeen cleaning up plasticulture

Total plastic (all kinds)produced in USA: 50 billion kg.*

Total agricultural plasticused in USA:0.5 billion kg. **

* Krebs, ACC 2007** Amidon Recycling, 2006

How extensive is the problem?

Also, we’ve targeted many wasted household products:#2 HDPE (buckets, tubs, toys)#4 LDPE (plastic sheeting, tubing)#5 PP (bottle lids & labels, tubs, cases)#6 PS (utensils, plates, clamshells, cups)

At times plasticulture is mismanaged. How?

Open burning

Burying

Littering

At Penn State, our belief is to recycle whenever possible.

If recycling is not an option…

Heating value,Material MJ/kg (Btu/lb)Fuel Oil 48.6 (20,900)Liquified natural gas 46.6 (19,970)Polyethylene (pots, tubs, sheeting) 46.3 (19,900)Polypropylene (rope, lids, tubs) 46.2 (19,850)Cross-linked PE (PEX tubing) 46.0 (19,780)Gasoline 44.6 (19,200)Polystyrene (inserts, Styrofoam) 41.4 (17,800)PA Kittanning coal 32.3 (13,900)Wyoming coal 22.3 (9,600)Wood 19.3 (8,300)Newspaper 18.6 (8,000)Textiles 16.0 (6,900)Municipal waste (dry) 16.2 (7,000)Yard waste 7.0 (3,000)Food waste 6.0 (2,600)

…why not capture the high heat content of plastic?

There are 2 technologies we striveto fuse

First Technology –Making plastic-derived fuel efficiently: Plastofuel®

Plastofuel® extrusion conceptis simple…

• Forces rigid & film plastic through a heated die• Electric band heaters melt only a thin jacket• Locks dirt & plastic pieces inside

Benefits of the process

Works with common thermoplasticsLow energy input (1/10th that of pellets)Ability to stockpile seasonal supplies#3, #4 - #7 have little valueMarket for recycling rejects

Benefits of burning Plastofuel®

Densified for easy storage, transport and metering

Clean burning when co-fired with other fuels

1100°C temperatures eliminate black smoke

Dirt and debris managed with ash

Combustion testing

Conducted at Penn State’s Energy Institute

A stoker simulatorwas used

Emissions resultswere favorable

Several prototype machines were tested over the years

Specifics of our research

Avg. melt thickness 1.5 mm1:100 energy balance225 kg / hour throughputDie temp 155-200 ° C

Today, we use ram extrusion toyield 80mm diameter Plastofuel®

…whimsically called“80 mm Plastocannon”

Commercialization?

Partnering with pulp and paper industry(One plant: 45-75 mt waste / day, year round)

Plan is to have a manufacturer designa commercial machine

So there you have it – a process to efficiently make a high-energy fuel …Plastofuel®

Now, let’s peek at the 2nd technology* to cleanly burnplastic pellets

*Note this technology cannot feed large Plastofuel®but someday will

Second Technology –Eco Clean Burner Corporation

Eco Clean Burner concept

Sustains combustion at 1100 oC

Hot water boiler system Fueled on pellets or

granules

Emissions testing

2005: Clean pellets tested with great results

2007: Dirty mulch film tested with great results up to 17% dirt!

In 2005 & 2007, tested for 3 primary emissions:

• Particulates• Acid gases• Furans / dioxin

Today, demo site near Pittsburgh

Test in production greenhousesAssure system is failsafe (UL testing) Verify fuel supply system

Eco Clean Burner(Shown installed at demo site)

Garden center demo site

What’s next?

Our design and research ideas include…

– Commercializing the Plastofuel® machine

– Modifying feed device for Korean burner to accept large pieces / Plastofuel ®

– Pilot testing Plastofuel ® combustion in large greenhouse or power producer setting

– Commercializing the burner nationwide

There is much you can do!

1. Learn designfor recyclability

2. Look full circle in your research

the roses.

3. Reduce

your dependency

and

smell (or lilies)

on social media

4. Paradigm shift…Start viewing trash as a previously used resource

What I hope you have learned:

- mankind has been dealing with wastes forever - some practices are worse than others- there is a widening disconnect with Earth- here are some worldwide concerns with plastics- how our plastic research is trying to help- you (as an engineer) have an obligation

In summary…

Thank you. Any questions?

Recycle or BUST! - Alfred State

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