Table of content · 2 Table of content 1. Introduction ..... 3

2

Table of content 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3

1.1. Scope of the study ................................................................................................... 4

1.2. Aim and objectives ................................................................................................... 4

1.3. Methodology ............................................................................................................ 4

2. Overview of Expanded Polystyrene ................................................................................ 5

2.1. Definition .................................................................................................................. 5

2.2. Production and application ....................................................................................... 5

2.3. Qualities................................................................................................................... 6

2.4. Properties ................................................................................................................ 7

3. EPS in Bangalore ........................................................................................................... 9

3.1. Structure of the market ............................................................................................ 9

3.2. Manufacturing ........................................................................................................ 10

3.3. Fabrication ............................................................................................................. 11

3.4. Recycling ............................................................................................................... 11

3.5. Remanufacturing ................................................................................................... 13

3.6. Environmental aspects ........................................................................................... 14

4. Case studies ................................................................................................................. 16

4.1. Approach and difficulties encountered ................................................................... 16

4.2. Manufacturer [East India Technology Private Limited] ........................................... 17

4.3. Fabricator 1 [Hindpac Industries] ........................................................................... 19

4.4. Fabricator 2 [Naveen Thermofab] .......................................................................... 21

4.5. Recycler 1 [Tulsiram Company] ............................................................................. 22

4.6. Recycler 2 [Veekay Industries] ............................................................................... 24

4.7. Recycler 3 [En-Kay Industries] ............................................................................... 26

4.8. Observations ......................................................................................................... 29

5. Key Findings ................................................................................................................. 30

6. Final Remarks .............................................................................................................. 30

7. Annexes ....................................................................................................................... 34

7.1. Annex 1: Questionnaire for recyclers ..................................................................... 34

7.2. Annex 2: Contacts ................................................................................................. 37

7.3. Annex 3: Other EPS end-of-life options ................................................................. 47

7.4. Annex 4: Alternatives to expanded polystyrene...................................................... 50

3

1. Introduction Expanded polystyrene (EPS), better known in India as “Thermocole”, a trademark of K.K Nag, is widely used in Bangalore and all over the world (K.K.Nag, 2006). However its lifetime is generally very short, sometimes of only a few minutes, and thus EPS waste is very quickly created and most frequently just land filled or incinerated.

Land filling EPS, on the contrary to other waste, does not cause major problems of contaminated leakages or air pollution, as it is inert and stable. EPS incineration in good conditions, i.e. at high temperature, emits only vapor, carbon dioxide, some volatile compound, and non-toxic ash and produces recoverable energy (EPASA, 2006). However these options are not desirable, first of all, because they waste resources and energy. Furthermore, all over the world cities are running out of landfill space, as the waste stream is continuously increasing. While EPS by weight does not represent a lot of material disposed in landfills, it does by volume. Concerning EPS incineration, if there is not enough oxygen or if the temperature is too low for full combustion, it can produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon black, carbon monoxide and styrene monomers (Cordek, 2006). Finally, only modern incinerators are able to recover energy from EPS waste.

An integrated approach to waste management should include EPS recycling. The global recycling rate of EPS is unknown. We know however from a study carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers and EcoBilan that in Europe the EPS recycling rate is only around 35%. The rest being incinerated either with or without energy recovery or land filled (IEPA, n.d.). That is why EPS packaging and containers for take away food have been banned in several cities around the world. EPS’ poor recycling rate is mainly due to its low cost-effectiveness, which is caused by two factors. First, EPS waste, such as food container, medical packaging and discarded EPS, is often contaminated or dirty. Yet contaminated waste lowers considerably the recycled product’s quality and at the same time it is not economically worth to wash and dry the EPS waste before recycling it. Secondly, EPS is low-density and thus bulky material. Therefore its transport generates disproportionate costs compared to the amount of material in weight that can be recycled.

In Bangalore, most of EPS waste lands on roadsides, in rivers, gullies, vacant lots or dumpsites. Scavengers do not pick it up because it is worth only 3Rs/kg (Vrushali, 2008). For comparison, the purchase price of milk packaging is 5 Rs/kg, Pugga (hard plastic, buckets, baskets, canes, toothpaste covers, disposable cups, cosmetics and detergent bottles, etc.) 8 Rs/kg and Kadak (like Pugga but different type of plastic) 6 Rs/kg (Rajaram, 1998). Hence there is a lack of incentives for the collection of EPS post-consumer waste. As in most other big cities around the world (including the highly industrialized countries of Europe and the USA), only the small stream of EPS waste that is clean and concentrated in one place, in other words post-industrial waste, is recycled. In Bangalore this recycling is processed exclusively by the informal sector and thus comes along with all the issues related to unregulated activities. In most cases, it is small-scale unit using basic technologies and totally submitted to the market laws. Pollution control, basic occupational safety and health measures are lacking. However as informal recycling is far cheaper; it enters in competition with formal recycling and represents an important obstacle to its further development.

No one would dispute that EPS waste and its recycling is an issue in Bangalore. However unlike other plastics or waste streams, so far no studies have been available on this topic. During a two-month internship hosted by Resource Optimization Initiative, we tried to fill the apparent gap of information and analysis. In the short period of time available to us and given the fact that collection of reliable information proved to be more challenging than anticipated, our study has no pretention of completeness. We hope however, that it will contribute to stimulate a debate on how EPS waste management and in particular its recycling could be improved in Bangalore.

4

1.1. Scope of the study The study is limited geographically to Bangalore, a bustling mega-city of some 6 million inhabitants, and in time to the current situation. It focuses on the third principle of an integrated waste management following the 3”R” (reduce, reuse and recycle). More precisely it is limited to the recycling practice of EPS in Bangalore and does not discuss the limits of recycling and whether and how it should be formalized in Bangalore. It is also constrained to the premise that plastics and plastic waste exists without questioning its purpose.

1.2. Aim and objectives The aim of the present study is to describe the situation of EPS recycling in Bangalore and to examine its effectiveness. Its objective is threefold: Understand the properties of EPS and its specificities; understand EPS production and recycling in Bangalore and the different process that it goes through; and examine the eco-efficiency of EPS production and recycling and the difficulties of its end-of-life.

1.3. Methodology The first step of the study was an Internet based literature research on plastic recycling in developing countries and informal recycling in general. Some comprehensive studies on plastic recycling in developing countries, including on recycling in Bangalore were found. We then focused our literature research on EPS: properties, manufacturing and recycling process, environmental impacts, consumption and production and EPS streams in Bangalore. We noticed that there is a general lack of scientific information. Hardly any scientific and quantitative data on the environmental aspects of EPS and its waste are available and we did not find any data on EPS streams.

In order to understand the problems of EPS streams in Bangalore and of its waste management in the city, we contacted several governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as private sector enterprises dealing with plastic or environmental impacts. First, we contacted Saahas, a non-governmental organization dealing with solid waste management to discuss about the problem of EPS and to ask for contacts. Saahas is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to problems related to waste and runs solid waste management projects in the field. Secondly, we contacted the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to get information on the emissions from the recycling units in Bangalore. However the KSPCB does not control the informal sector and therefore it was not possible to receive information from them on the issue of recycling emissions. We also contacted the Karnataka Plastic Manufacturers Associations (KPMA) and the Indian Plastic Institute (IPI) in an attempt to get quantitative information on the EPS business in Bangalore. However, these institutions could only provide us with very little valuable information on EPS.

We planned visits to EPS processing units in order to understand the EPS process chain, to learn more on the practices in use and to get an idea of the EPS streams size. Prior to our fieldwork, we prepared questionnaires (c.f. Annex 1 and 2) with the help of a study on plastic recycling in Karnataka (KCPC, 2001) and in other places in developing countries. To get over the difficulty of tracking down the EPS informal recyclers, we first searched for EPS manufacturers and fabricators in online directories. We were successful to obtain from these visits a link to EPS recyclers. Following two weeks of field visits to EPS manufacturers, fabricators and recyclers, we compiled and analyzed the data that we managed to collect.

We also contacted companies producing EPS manufacturing machineries and companies using EPS in order to gather more information about what is feasible technically and to discuss the cost and benefits of EPS usage and what could be done to reduce the environmental cost. However this proved to be vain as the companies that we contacted were reluctant to share information.

5

2. Overview of Expanded Polystyrene

2.1. Definition Expanded polystyrene is a synthetic thermoplastic, i.e. a substance that becomes plastic on heating and hardens on cooling and is able to repeat these processes, contrary to thermosetting plastic, which is set permanently after heating (University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Polymer Science, n.d.). Its chemical structure is C6H5CHCH2 which results from the expansion of polystyrene (C8H8)n by a blowing agent, such as pentane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, methylene chloride or chlorofluorocarbons.

Polystyrene is a polymer made of styrene (C8H8), a colorless aromatic hydrocarbon. Styrene is produced naturally in small quantities by certain plants and animals and industrially from petroleum by the reaction between ethylene (C2H4) and benzene (C6H6). (SPA, 2008, chap. 4) Styrene is suspected to be a human carcinogen (ATSDR, 2007).

In Bangalore, pentane gas is used as a blowing agent for the production of EPS (information received directly from manufacturers). Pentane (C5H12) is a colorless and flammable, volatile organic compound (VOC), i.e. a carbon-based chemical that has high vapor pressure and therefore easily evaporates. Its release in the environment does not have any direct adverse ecological effects. However, as a VOC, it is an ozone precursor. It may react chemically with nitrogen oxides (NOx) in presence of sunlight to form ground-level ozone, which results in deterioration in local air quality and can be harmful to health and plants, such as rubber (EAUK, n.d.).

2.2. Production and application In 1944 Ray Mc Intire, a scientist working for Dow Chemical Company, accidentally discovered expanded polystyrene while he was trying to develop a flexible electrical insulation (Dow Chemical Company, 2008). Since then Dow started to produce EPS bluish insulation sheets, well known under the trademark Styrofoam. Rapidly other industries began to produce EPS for insulation and floating devices. After replacing paper and other materials, EPS became trendy as well for packaging. Its popularity was enhanced by the growing fast food and take away industry, which began to use EPS for burger boxes and coffee cups (HPMA, 2009). Today EPS products, such as packaging boxes and loose peanuts, floating devices, insulation sheets, food containers, coffee cups, food trays, disposable vessels and picnic coolers, are very common (HPMA, 2009). In short EPS holds unique combination of properties (see chapter 3.4 on Properties) practical for a wide range of everyday applications. Thus EPS is extensively produced and consumed and seems difficult to replace.

No data are available on the worldwide production or consumption of EPS. But according to Plastics Europe Market Research Group, in 2007 EPS production accounted for 2% of Western Europe and 7% of Central Europe total plastic production, which came up to 810,000 tons and 455,000 tons respectively (PEMRG, 2008). Between 2005 and 2007, EPS production slightly decreased in Western Europe where as it increased in Central Europe (PEMRG, 2008). The case of Western Europe shows a situation where measures, such as banning EPS, have been taken to limit the growth of EPS. But decreasing EPS production is rather an exception than a general tendency.

6

2.3. Qualities Chemically there is only one type of EPS. However according to manufacturers and recyclers we visited, different qualities of EPS exist depending on the size of the EPS beads. The smaller the bead the better the quality of EPS because the beads are more tightly attached and thus the product is stronger. There are roughly three bead sizes: small (radius 0.05-0.06 mm before expansion and 2-3 mm after), medium (radius 0.07-0.09 mm before expansion and 3-5mm after) and large (radius 0.1-0.13 mm before expansion and 5-7mm).

In Bangalore, small beads are used to make disposable cups or compact freezer boxes, for example for blood packs, vaccine and ice creams storage. Medium beads are used for shape-moulded packaging destined to protect fragile items. Finally, large size beads are used for decoration and in designing collages.

7

2.4. Properties

Pro

pert

ies

Expla

nation

Advanta

ges

Dis

advanta

ges

Low

density

[15-3

0 k

g/m

3]

EPS is air trapped in

thin styrene cells

and therefore is

composed of 90 to

98% air.

•

It is the lightest packaging m

aterial that exists.

•

In packaging, it does not significantly add to

the weight of the total product, reducing fuel

consumption and transportation cost in

comparison to other packaging material.

•

It is prone to wind and water transport and

thus to be found littered in the outdoor

environment.

•

EPS waste fills quickly transportation vehicles

and therefore implies disproportionate cost

compared to the amount of material in weight

that is recyclable.

•

When it is disposed, it takes up significant

space and contributes sensibly to the landfill

running out of space.

Low

therm

al

conductivity

[0.0

35-0

.040

W/(m

xk)]

EPS cells are not

interconnected so

heat cannot travel

through EPS easily.

•

It is practical for house insulation, keeping

food fresh or hot and packaging temperature

sensitive items, such as pharm

aceutical and

medical products.

•

It saves energy for heating and cooling when it

is used in construction.

•

No known disadvantage.

Wate

r re

sis

tance

EPS has a closed

cell structure and

doesn’t have any

interstice. Thus it

provides zero

capillarity and does

not absorb water.

•

It can be used in houses for insulation and for

any type of packaging including food and

liquids.

•


8

Pro

pert

ies

Expla

nation

Advanta

ges

Dis

advanta

ges

Com

pre

ssio

n

resis

tance

EPS has a closed

cell structure and

doesn’t have any

interstice letting air

in.

•

It is useful to protect delicate items, such as

chemicals, electronic equipments and

appliances.

•

Its compression resistance can be adjusted

with different EPS beads densities.

•


Chem

ical

resis

tance

EPS is chemically

stable.

•

It is inert.

•

It m

aintains its shape, size, structure, physical

appearance, etc. over time.

•

It is conform

to the hygiene norm

s for food and

medical devices packaging.

•

It is non-biodegradable.

•

If EPS finds its way to the outdoor

environment, it will remain there and likely

break down into smaller pieces or beads and

thus be harm

ful to wild animals that may

ingest it.

Mould

able

EPS beads m

ould

together with steam. •

It can be literally and easily m

ould in any

shape or form

. •


Recycla

ble

EPS is a

therm

oplastic and

therefore can be re-

melted and recycled.

•

It can theoretically be recycled in solid PS

items, such as clothes hangers, CD and DVD

cases, stationery items and other plastic

products.

•

It can only be “down cycled“ (i.e cannot be

reprocessed into EPS) in solid PS as it is

difficult to reintroduce a blowing agent once

EPS is m

elted and therefore can only be

recycled once.

•

In reality, EPS is most of the time not recycled

because it is not cost-effective.

Cheap

EPS m

anufacturing

requires relatively

cheap raw m

aterial

and technologies.

•

It is very competitive with other similar

materials.

•

It is competitive with m

ore eco-friendly

materials.

Table

1: EP

S p

ropert

ies

9

3. EPS in Bangalore

3.1. Structure of the market

Figure 1: EPS streams in Bangalore including only major waste streams.

Large and medium-small scale manufacturers who produce blocks or shaped packaging supply Bangalore with EPS. There are two large-scale manufacturers who operate India wide and produce EPS in blocks for fabricators and in shaped packaging for large industries, such as electronic companies. There are about five medium-scale scale EPS manufacturers who produce EPS blocks and sell them to fabricators. Fabricators shape EPS blocks into sheets for decoration or collage and into customized packaging in accordance to their clients demand. The number of EPS fabricators in Bangalore is unknown. We came across only four of them.

A distinction can be made between large and small industries and consumers. Large industries operate world or India wide and buy EPS from large manufacturers whereas small industries and shops operate in local areas and buy EPS from fabricators. Large consumer of EPS are companies, businesses or governments bodies that use large quantities of EPS packed items, such as IT or telecommunication products. Small consumers are individuals and SME who use EPS packaging, sheets or food containers. The type of consumer is decisive for the EPS end-of-life cycle.

10

Each step of the EPS lifecycle creates waste in a certain way even if consumers’ waste represents most of the waste. Currently, only a fraction of large consumers and also fabricators’ clean and concentrated waste is recycled, the rest is dumped. According to the supervisors of Tulsiram Company and En-Kay Industries, there are only three EPS recyclers in Bangalore. They are all small scale and recycle mechanically EPS, i.e. they recover material that can be used to manufacture new products. More precisely, they melt and extrude EPS into PS pellets before sending it to solid PS manufacturing units, where it is mixed with virgin polystyrene and moulded into solid PS products, for example CD cases or teacups. The number of PS manufacturers is unknown. But there may be many because hard plastic manufacturers often process different plastic resins in their unit since the technology required, injection moulding, is the same.

3.2. Manufacturing After producing styrene by combining ethylene and benzene, EPS is subjected to suspension polymerization, i.e. it is merged in water and a viscous suspension agent to form droplets of polystyrene. The suspension agent can be specially precipitated barium sulphate or copolymers of acrylic and meth acrylic acid. It serves to hold up the droplets, preventing them from sticking together. The droplets of polystyrene formed are heated and combined with a polymerization initiator, which starts the process of combining the droplets to form polystyrene chains and ultimately 0.05 to 0.13 mm hard polystyrene beads. (NFP, n.d.) The polymerization is stopped with inhibitors, such as oxygen, sulphur or quinol. After polymerization is complete, the polystyrene beads are cooled, washed out, dried and finally impregnated with pentane gas.

The expandable polystyrene beads are then pre-expanded with steam and agitation. An agitator is used to keep the beads from fusing together. Since expanded beads are lighter than unexpanded beads, they are forced to the top of the vessel's cavity and discharged. The pre-expansion lowers the density of the beads to three percent of their original value and yields a smooth-skinned, closed cell EPS. Next, the pre-expanded beads are aged for at least 24 hours in mesh storage silos to allow the pressure within the beads to diffuse and equalize, and make the beads cool and harden. After aging, the beads are fed into a big block mould or a customized mould and heated by low-pressure steam that further expands and fuses the beads together to its final shape. The mould is then cooled, either by circulating water through it or by spraying water on the outside (HPAM, n.d.).

Figure 2: Schema of the manufacturing process. Adapted from Inouting Pen (n.d.).

11

3.3. Fabrication EPS fabrication is a very simple process. EPS blocks of 1.5-3 m x 0.5-1 m are cut into sheets or smaller blocks with a hot wire-cutting machine, which resembles a table with adjustable spacing wires above it. The electricity heated wires cut the EPS block when it is pushed through. The smaller blocks are manually shaped with a hot iron-cutting tool. Generally the shaping consists of cutting a hole in the shape of the object intended to be packed. This is a crude way of shaping EPS and produces a lot of waste compare to shape-moulding.

Figure 3: On the left: The hot-wire cutting. On the right: A zoom of the hot wires.

Photo credit: Melanie Studer, 24.11.09, Tulsiram Company, Bangalore

3.4. Recycling EPS waste can be divided into two grades depending on its dirtiness and humidity. The first grade is clean and dry waste, for example manufacturing or fabrication waste as well as industrial. The second grade is slightly dirty and/or humid waste. The two EPS waste grades have however the same recycling process.

First, EPS waste is fed into a shredder that has a series of rotating blades driven by an electric motor. The blades grind the EPS into smaller pieces of irregular size (less than 1 cm3) and shape. The shredded pieces are then fed into an agglomerator, which has a vertical drum and a series of rotating blades at the bottom (Van den Berg, 2009). The material is uniformly mixed and heated in the agglomerator and thereby 60 to 80% of the EPS air is released. The output of this process is pre-plasticized granules, which look like hard and shrunken EPS beads of 1-5 mm radius.

Figure 4: Agglomerated EPS (1-5 mm radius)

Photo credit: Melanie Studer, 24.11.09,Tulsiram Company, Bangalore

12

Next, the agglomerated EPS is fed into an extruder through a hopper in order to compound, homogenize, compress, degas, filter and plasticize the material. A screw on the inside of the barrel presses the material through the barrel that is heated by electric resistances to about 240ºC. Under the heat and the pressure of the screw the plastic is compounded, compressed and degassed. (CBI, 1996)

Figure 5: Schema of an extruder (Rajaram, 1998)

The material is pressed through a set of two irons mesh on which the impurities are retained and then forced through a 10x1 cm dye. The out flowing mass before it cools down is manually cut into lumps, which are compact and depending on the quality of the raw material more or less smooth and greyish. The lumps are then shredded and melted a second time. This time, the EPS is extruded in the form of long wires, which are cooled by soaking in water. The wires are then cut into pellets and are sold to PS manufacturers.

Figure 6: On the left: Place where the mesh is inserted. On the right: First mesh.

Photo credit: Melanie Studer, 15.12.09, En-Kay Industries, Bangalore

13

Figure 7: On the left: Used second meshes. On the right: A filthy mesh.


Figure 8: From left to right: 1. Smooth and light color lump from 1

st grade EPS waste. 2.

and 3. Blackish-brownish lump with an irregular surface from 2

nd grade EPS waste


It is important to note that normally during the extrusions, the temperature should be controlled. However there is no sophisticated temperature control. One of the methods used is to turn off the heater 10 to 20 minutes to readjust the barrel’s temperature if it gets too hot. Another practice is to pour water on the barrel in order to cool it down. (Rajaram, 1997). An inefficient temperature control can lead to poor quality plastic as an excess of heat can alter the properties of the molecules that make the plastic. Poor quality plastic means greater porosity, which for example allows contaminants to sick to it and be leached later on. (ibid.)

3.5. Remanufacturing The remanufacturing of recycled EPS consists in the moulding of PS products, which is similar to the moulding of any type of plastic. So first, the recycled PS pellets are mixed with 60 to 80% of virgin PS. Then the material is extruded, in the same manner as for the EPS recycling but instead of being extruded into lumps or wires, it is injected into a mould. Once the mould cools down, the product is extracted or dropped.

14

3.6. Environmental aspects

R

esourc

es

consum

ption

Solid w

aste

pro

duction

Sew

age p

roduction

Air

pollution

Manufacturing

•

Ele

ctr

icity: for the

pre-expansion and

the moulding.

•

Fir

ew

ood:

depending on the

technology in use,

for the pre-

expansion.

•

Wate

r: for the pre-

expansion and the

moulded EPS

cooling.

•

Lost EPS b

eads a

nd d

am

aged m

ould

ed E

PS

pie

ces: Only waste of manufacturing failures is

produced and thus can hardly be diminished.

Though the recycled share of this waste could be

increase. Indeed in one of the large m

anufacturing

unit visited, only 5-10% of the EPS waste was

recovered by reintroduction in the m

oulding

process, the rest of the waste being disposed.

According to the manufacturer in the manufacturing

process, it is only possible to recover EPS beads

that are non-damage and re-expandable. However

the rest of the waste could be sent to recyclers.

•

Mould

ing a

nd p

re-

expansio

n s

ew

age:

The water used in the

process is recycled

several times but

when it is too dirty it is

sent to the

environment without

any treatment. The

quantity of water used

is unknown.

•

VO

C e

mis

sio

ns: due

to the eventual release

of pentane gas from

polystyrene beads.

Fabrication

•

Ele

ctr

icity: for the

cutting.

•

EPS c

ut-

off: The customized shaping of the EPS

blocks produces about 20% to 40% of waste. This

waste is recycled according to the fabricators.

•

No w

aste

wate

r •

Poly

cyclic a

rom

atic

hydro

carb

ons,

carb

on b

lack, and

carb

on m

onoxid

e

em

issio

ns: due to

EPS cutting at low

temperature. As the

units are usually

poorly ventilated,

these emissions

remain in the unit and

come out as an awful

smell.

15

R

esourc

es

consum

ption

Solid w

aste

pro

duction

Sew

age p

roduction

Air

pollution

Recycling

•

Ele

ctr

icity: for the

shredding, the

agglomeration and

the extrusion.

•

Wate

r: for the

extruded EPS

wires cooling.

•

Mesh: for the

filtration during the

extrusion.

•

Scre

enin

g w

aste

: During the extrusion, the m

esh

retains a certain amount, depending on the dirtiness

of the EPS reprocessed, of solid particles and of

EPS. As the mesh is changed about every hour,

approximately 1 to 2 kg of screening waste is

produced per day. The amount of screening waste

depends actually on the quality of the EPS waste.

The screening waste is then burnt in order to

recover the mesh.

•

Mesh: The mesh is changed about every hour and

can be reused about 8 to 10 times, so

approximately one m

esh is wasted per day and for

instance discarded.

•

Purg

ing w

aste

: After each power shutdown, the

material remained in the barrel and the dye m

ust be

purged because its cooling causes a degradation of

the material. Therefore it cannot be reused and is

discarded. As power shortages in Bangalore are

quite frequent, this represents a notable loss of

material.

•

Lost EPS b

eads: These beads may reach the

environment because of wind or water

transportation. However there represent only a

small fraction of the recyclable m

aterial.

•

Cooling s

ew

age: The

cooling bath is

generally about

150x30x40 cm and is

changed once a week,

so about 180

liters/week of sewage

is produced and for

instance discarded in

the open environment.

The relatively small

quantity of wastewater

produced should be

pondered by its

toxicity, which is

unfortunately

unknown, as the

amount and nature of

pollutants are

uncontrolled.

•

Idem

as for

fabri

cato

rs: but due

to EPS melting at low

temperature and to the

cleaning of the mesh

by simply burning the

screening waste in the

open.

•

Dust (tin

y p

lastic

part

icle

s): due to the

shredding at high

speed

Table

2: EP

S E

nvironm

enta

l aspects

16

4. Case studies The case studies presented in this chapter are based on interviews with EPS manufacturers, fabricators and recyclers. Because of the limited timeframe, we were not able to include the consumption and the collection steps. For each case study, an overview of the enterprise and a process diagram is presented. Most of the units work with different type of plastics; only the processes and the information relative to EPS are described. The process diagrams streams are not quantified because in the informal sector hardly any data is registered and available.

4.1. Approach and difficulties encountered Several difficulties were encountered during our field visits. First of all, it was difficult to find and locate the processing units because a lot of units are informal and thus not registered in directories and when contacts were found, the phone numbers and the addresses were often wrong or only approximate. Secondly, it was difficult to obtain the owner’s permission for a visit. In most places, the owner was not in or not reachable, and the managers were reluctant to provide us information without the owner’s permission. Third of all, in general the interviewed persons, especially those from the informal units, were unable or unwilling to give quantitative (for example about the costs or the amount of material processed) or business (for example name of clients or suppliers) information. Many of them claimed to have insignificant business and gave largely underestimated data, probably in order not to attract the attention of Karnataka’s regulatory or controlling bodies. It seemed also that they fear sanctions or fines, for example from the Karnataka Pollution Control Board, which can fine industries for violating pollution control norms.

Because of these difficulties, we adapted our approach strategy several times (c.f. Annex 3). Our initial approach was to go to the units without any appointment. We thought that if we were directly at the units’ door, we would have more chance to be able to enter the unit. We introduced ourselves as interns of Resource Optimization Initiatives (ROI), a non-governmental organization promoting Industrial Ecology and tried to use prepared questionnaires (c.f. Annex 1 and 2). However, several times we could not enter the processing units after which we decided to ask for appointments before visiting. As questionnaires seemed to shy away our interlocutors, we abandoned them and tried to make the interview sound more informal while keeping the questionnaire in mind. As many of our contacts still remained reluctant to talk to us, we introduced ourselves as foreign Industrial Management students doing a project on the benefits of EPS and the collection of EPS waste. As a result the interviews that we conducted were more like an informal discussion about the functioning of the plants than a systematic and complete production and recycling assessment.

17

4.2. Manufacturer [East India Technology Private Limited]

Activity Manufacturing of EPS (EITPL Packaging Division)

Registered Yes

Scale Large

Size of the unit 60x80 m

Nb. of employees � 400

Production [t/month] 140-150

Machinery 2 steamers

12 storage silos

12 moulders

1 drying chamber

1 storage room

The machinery is Chinese rather than Indian because it is more adapted to large-scale production and cheaper.

Suppliers BASF, SPL, Reliance Industries

Clients Large companies, such as APC, IBM, LG and fabricators. APC is their largest client. EITPL chose a location in the proximity to APC.

Table 3: Profile of East India Technology Private Limited (EITPL)

18

Figure 9: Process of East India Technology Private Limited (EITPL)

Process

EITPL receives expandable beads of different size according to the clients demand. These beads are then fed into a steamer for pre-expansion. Once that the expandable beads reached the required pre-expanded size, they are sent via pipes to a storage silo, where they age for at least 24 hours. Different bead sizes are stocked in different silos. Through another suction pipe the pre-expanded beads from the silo are sent to customized or block moulds. Low-pressure steam is then injected expanding the beads once more and fusing them together in the shape of the mould. The moulded EPS is cooled with water sprayed on the outside. It is then packed in piles of about 1.5 m and passed on a conveyor belt into a hot (60-70°C) drying chamber for about 45 minutes. Finally, the moulded EPS is sent to a storage room that is about 20m2 and 10 meter high.

19

4.3. Fabricator 1 [Hindpac Industries]

Activity Fabrication of EPS, EPE (Expanded Polyethylene), LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) air bubbles film and XLPE (Cross-linked Polyethylene). Previously the owner manufactured EPS but the unit shut down because of the competition with larger EPS manufacturers.

Registered Yes

Scale Medium


Nb. of employees 7 + 1 supervisor

Production [t/month] 3-10

Machinery 1 hot-wire cutting machine 3 hot-iron cutting tool for shaping

Suppliers N/a

Clients EPS waste: Veekay Industries EPS products: Clients, including IBM and HP, mainly out of Bangalore, for example in Chennai, Salem or Noida

Table 4: Profile of Hindpac Industries

Figure 10: Process of Hindpac Industries

Process

Hindpac Industries receives EPS blocks of about 150x60 cm and fabricates it in two ways. The first process is to cut the blocks into sheets with a hot wire-cutting machine and to sell them to shops. The second process is to cut the blocks into customized packaging. The large blocks are cut into smaller blocks with the same hot-wire cutting machine as for the sheets and then cut-shaped according to the customer’s demand with a hot-iron tool. Generally the

20

shaping consists of cutting a hole in the shape of the object intended to be packed. The customized packaging is usually fabricated by lots of 100 to 1000 identical pieces. The sheet fabrication produces typically about 1% of cut-offs. While the customized-packaging fabrication produces about 20 to 40%, depending on the packaging’s shape, of cut-offs.

Figure 11: Fabrication waste storage

Photo credit: Melanie Studer, 05.12.09, Hindpac Industries, Bangalore

21

4.4. Fabricator 2 [Naveen Thermofab]

Activity Fabrication of EPS and EPE (Expanded Polyethylene)

Registered No

Scale Small



Production [t/month] N/a

Machinery 1 hot wire cutting machine 3 hot irons cutting tool for shaping

Suppliers Unknown manufacturer in Peenya, Bangalore

Clients N/a

Table 5: Profile of Naveen Thermofab

Process

The process is the same as the one of Hindpac, except that it is unsure to us if the waste is recycled.

22

4.5. Recycler 1 [Tulsiram Company]

Activity Recycling of EPS and fabrication of EPS sheets out of blocks and waste

Registered No

Scale Small



Production [t/month] 5 EPS recycling N/a sheet fabrication

Machinery 1 shredder 1 agglomerator 1 extruder 1 hot wire cutting machine

Suppliers EPS blocks: sister company in Hyderabad EPS waste: large companies in Bangalore (40%) and Hyderabad (60%)

Clients N/a

Table 6: Profile of Tulsiram Company

23

Figure 12: Process of Tulsiram Company

Process

Tulsiram Company buys EPS blocks from a sister company in Hyderabad about 570 km away from Bangalore. The first process is to cut the blocks into sheets. The process is the same as for the other fabricators. But the cut-offs are recycled in this unit. EPS waste is collected from Hyderabad (60%) and from Bangalore (40%). When the waste is clean and big enough, it is cut into sheets. The remaining EPS waste and the cut-offs are shredded and then agglomerated before being fed into an extruder. The extrusion produces lumps, which are cooled down in the open air and then sold to PS manufacturers.

Figure 13: On the left: A shredder. On the right: EPS extrusion into lumps

Photo credit: Melanie Studer, 24.11.09, Tulsiram Company, Bangalore

24

4.6. Recycler 2 [Veekay Industries]

Activity EPS shredding and selling of EPS sheets

Registered No

Scale Small



Production [t/month] �10

Machinery 1 shredder 1 agglomerator

Suppliers EPS waste from large and medium companies in Bangalore, including Hindpac Industries

Clients En-Kay Industries in Hoskote (Bangalore)

Table 7: Profile of Veekay Industries

Figure 14: Process of Veekay Industries

Process

Veekay Industries collects and transports by trucks 1st and 2nd grade post-industrial EPS waste. The waste is then stored according to the grade and processed separately. It is fed into a shredder and agglomerated in an ad hoc machine. The agglomerated EPS is sent by truck for further reprocessing to En-Kay Industries, a sister company located in Hoskote 40 km away from Bangalore.

25

Figure 15: Storage area of waste and recycled EPS

Photo credit: Samuel Wicki, 08.12.09, Veekay Industries, Bangalore.

26

4.7. Recycler 3 [En-Kay Industries]

Activity Recycling of EPS, Expanded Polyethylene (EPE) foam and fiber glass

Registered No

Scale Small



Production [t/month] �10

Machinery 1 shredder 1 extruder 1 pelletizer

Suppliers EPS: Veekay Industries, Peenya, Bangalore

Clients N/a

Table 8: Profile En-Kay Industries

27

Figure 16: Process of En-Kay Industries

Process

En-Kay Industries receives agglomerated EPS from Veekey Industries. The raw material comes in 1st and 2nd grade and is processed separately. The agglomerated EPS is fed into an extruder that produces lumps, which are cooled down in the open air. The lumps are then shredded into irregular small pieces. They are again extruded but this time into wires, which are soaked into water in order to cool down. They are finally pelletized, bagged, and sold to PS manufacturers.

Figure 17: From left to right: 1. Shredder 2. Extruder with cooling bath 3. Pelletizer

28


29

4.8. Observations Most EPS processing units and in particular the recycling units are informal and small scale. They use basic and similar technologies in the different units. Except the manufacturers, who depending on their size-scale, use Chinese (steamboiler heated with electricity) or Indian machineries (steam boiler heated by firewood). East India Technologies Private Limited used Chinese machineries whereas two other manufacturing unit that we saw but could not enter in used Indian machineries.

The information collected on the suppliers and the clients provided us an idea of the links between the different steps of EPS processing chain and confirmed that there is no collection of EPS post consumer waste. Thus EPS recycling chain is special, almost inexistent. Indeed, most plastics in Bangalore are first picked up by a scavenger, who sells it to scrap dealer, who will segregate the waste before sending it to a middleman, who will finally sells it to a recycler. Whereas EPS waste in Bangalore is collected directly from industries by the recyclers. Unlike most plastics also, the number of EPS recyclers is amazingly little (3).

The case studies show also that it is easy to understand the processes, which EPS goes through but it is difficult to track where it comes from and goes to and in which quantity. Thus we failed to get reliable quantitative information, such as the EPS lifetime, the consumption, the production, the quantity of waste, the recycling rate, etc. The lacking information makes it difficult to do an in-depth analysis and measure objectively the size of the problem and the relative impact of EPS waste. However a few general conclusions can be drawn.

If EPS recycling was undertaken / managed by the formal sector, reliable information’s availability would be greater. However, formal EPS recycling in Bangalore does not seem realistic at the moment. Indeed formal units would not be viable financially without a change in EPS waste management, as expenses for acquisition of safety and pollution equipment would not make it a profitable business.

Even though the total amount of EPS and EPS waste production is unknown, EPS recycling seems not very effective in Bangalore. We are aware that East India Technology Private Limited on its own produces about 140-150 tons of EPS per month and that it is largely sold in Bangalore. Other large and medium manufacturers exist and sell at least part of their production in Bangalore. The entire production of EPS in Bangalore is thus estimated to account for more than a hundred tons per month. We also know that EPS application in Bangalore induces a very short lifetime and thus EPS quickly becomes waste. However, if there are effectively only 3 recyclers (as we were told), the recycled waste accounts for about 25-30 tons per month. Tulsiram Company recycles about 5 tons per month and Veekay & Enkay Industries recycle together 10 tons per month. It can be assumed that the third recycling unit is also informal and small scale and therefore recycles about 5 to 10 tons per month. These rough estimates suggest that EPS recycling has major drawbacks. According to the EPS recyclers it is not viable to recycle only EPS. Thus they all have another business line beside EPS recycling. They either recycle other plastic foams, like expanded polyethylene (EPE), or sell EPS sheets.

30

5. Key Findings We noted a disconnection between the production and disposal of EPS.. We were struck by the fact that manufacturers introduce large amounts of EPS on the market but abandon their responsibility as soon as the EPS goes out of their plant. The interview with East India Private Limited revealed that the company did not have any contacts with recyclers and was not interested neither in the recyclability of their products or in giving their waste for recycling. We also noted that EPS informal recycling does not help manufacturers to cooperate with the recyclers and generates further disinterest of manufacturers for the EPS end-of-life cycle. Consequently, it is the general public that has to bear the cost of EPS disposal and its adverse environmental impact.

As EPS recycling problem is first of all a cost-effectiveness problem, it seems difficult to resolve it in an economic system that externalizes environmental cost. EPS waste management should actually not be considered only at its end-of-life cycle but already at its cradle. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) could be an answer. EPR refers to a system where producers are responsible financially and physically for their product during its entire “life cycle”, that is even at its economic end-of-life (Manomaivibool, Lindhqvist and Tojo, 2007). In other words, EPR is based on the “polluter pays” principle and is a key concept in promoting the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle). EPR initiatives include downstream changes, for example regarding the disposal, and upstream changes, such as improvements in the product design, in the choice of material and in the manufacturing process. (CPA, n.d.)

If EPR were applied to EPS in Bangalore, it would mean that EPS manufacturers would be responsible of EPS waste management. It would imply a major re-organization of EPS business. Manufacturers and recyclers would need to cooperate and more recyclers and a fortiori formal recyclers would be needed. This will take time to implement and make it effective. Ultimately it will require a change in the regulatory legislation, in the approach to waste management and in environmental policies.

Even though, EPR represents a very innovative option and a fundamental change, it seems the best chance for achieving progress in EPS recycling in Bangalore. Indeed, incremental changes, such as source segregation, recycling anticipated tax or subsides, seem anyway not adapted to EPS recycling in Bangalore.

Source segregation allows cleaner and concentrated waste thus it would diminish the transportation cost and the quality loss due to waste contamination. However EPS source segregation in Bangalore is only realistic if a complete source segregation program, i.e. including the main recyclables, is implemented. Indeed EPS represents a rather small amount of waste compared to other types of waste, such as plastic bag or paper. And it would be effective only if people are aware of the importance of recycling, which is not yet the case, though some NGO’s are working on this.

Concerning anticipated tax and subsides; they represent direct financial help that balance the externalization of environmental cost. Nonetheless both of them are difficult to imagine in Bangalore because they involve the government. The government of Karnataka appears to give little priority to recycling, which remains mostly informal. Furthermore, as corruption is still very present in Indian government bodies, any kinds of financial help may never reach its destination.

6. Final Remarks Our study focused on the EPS recycling process and highlights the environmental issues related to EPS use and its waste management in Bangalore. The study raises some key

31

questions including: How to facilitate EPS recycling? How to increase the collection? How to get the post consumer waste? How to strengthen the informal recycling? How to increase the useful time of EPS? Are there other end-of-life options able to reduce the burden of EPS waste for the environment? Are there eco-friendlier alternatives to EPS? These questions are not specific to Bangalore, but concern EPS waste management in general. EPS recycling is a global problem, which deservers further studies.

We wish to conclude this study with some final remarks regarding the EPS recycling problem in the context of Bangalore.

Bangalore is now undergoing an uncontrolled growth provoking among other consequences an increasing waste problem. More and more waste is produced while less and less space exists in landfills. In other word, the landfills cannot absorb the waste generated by the city’s demographic surge. Thus recycling EPS becomes an increasingly important issue especially since it has the potential of considerably reducing the volume of dumped waste.

Recycling of EPS waste is more than recovering material and avoiding taking up landfill space. It also reduces EPS littering, which represents a big problem due to its lightweight, proneness to wind and water transport and non-biodegradability. Improving EPS recycling will certainly become more urgent as EPS consumption and therefore waste production will continue to grow. Other than just the number of inhabitants, IT companies that are known as large EPS consumers as well as industries using EPS for food packaging are developing extremely fast in Bangalore. And there are no signs of imminent new legislation, commercial trend or habits, which would limit the EPS usage.

The good news is that Bangalore’s exceptional speed of development has not only drawbacks; it creates a conducive environment for innovation, new approaches and initiatives, such as extended producer responsibility. Rapidly growing environmental awareness may well usher in a momentum for the promotion of EPS recycling earlier than our findings led us believe.

32

7. References Agency for toxic substances and disease registry (ATSDR). 2007. Division of toxicology and

environmental medicine : Styrene information sheet. <www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts53.html>. Accessed December 2009.

Center for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI). 1996. Environmentally sound production : recycling of plastic waste. <http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo/cbi/docs/environment_recycling_of_plastic_waste>. Accessed December 2009.

Cordek. 2006. Health and safety data sheet : Expanded polystyrene products. West Sussex, UK : Cordek. <www.cordek.com/docs/COSHH%20-%20EPS%20data%20sheet. pdf>. Accessed December 2009

Dow Chemical Company. 2008 March 06. Inventor of STYROFOAM® Named to National Inventors Hall of Fame. Dow Invoation News. < http://www.dow.com/innovation/ news/2008 /20080306a.htm >. Accessed December 2009.

Environment Agency of United Kingdom (EAUK). n.d. Pollution inventory substances, pentene (all isomers). <www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/pollution/39175.aspx>. Accessed December 2009.

Expanded Polystyrene Association of Southern Africa (EPASA). 2006. Selection guide introducing expanded polystyrene (EPS). Midrand, South Africa : Association of Architectural Aluminum Manufacturers of South Africa. < http://www.aaamsa.co.za/images/Technical%20Publications/EPSASA/Selection_Guide_Introducing_EPS.pdf> Accessed December 2009

Extended Producer Responsibility Work Group (EPRWG). 2003. Extended producer responsibility. A prescription for clean production, Pollution Prevention and Zero Waste. <www.eprworkinggroup.org/>. Accessed December 2009.

How Products Are Made (HPAM) n.d. Expanded polystyrene foam. <www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Expanded-Polystyrene-Foam-EPF.html>. Accessed December 2009.

Inouting Pen. n.d. Expanded polystyrene foam (EPF). <http://www.inouting.com/inout.ing/pen-do-view-penid-32.html>. Accessed December 2009

International Expanded Polystyrene Alliance (IEPA) n.d. Recycling of EPS. <www.epsrecycling.org/pages/recycle4.html>. Accessed December 2009.

Kojima M., Sasaki S. and Yoshida A. 2009. Difficulties in applying extended producer responsibility policies in developing countries: case studies in e-waste recycling in China and Thailand. <www.springerlink.com/index/QR301R4781272806.pdf>. Accessed December 2009.

Karnataka Cleaner Production Center (KCPC). 2001. Plastic industries in Karnataka. Bangalore : Department of Envrionment and Forest, Government of Karnataka.

K.K. Nag, Ltd. 2006. About us [K.K. Nag Ltd.] < http://www.kknag.com/about_us.htm >. Accessed December 2009.

Manomaivibool P., Lindhqvist T. and Tojo N. 2007. Extended producer responsibility in a non-oecd context: the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment in India Sweden: Lund University, International Institute for Industrial and Environmental

33

Economics. <http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId= 811019&fileOId=1270000>. Accessed December 2009.

Northwest Foam Products Inc. (NFP). n.d. EPS factsheet. < http://www.northwestfoam.com/nwf-eps-facts.htm> Accessed December 2009

PlasticsEurope Market Research Group (PEMRG). 2008. Business data and charts 2007. Brussels, Belgium : PlasticsEurope. <www.plasticseurope.org/Content/Default.asp?PageID=989>. Accessed December 2009.

Rajaram. E. S. 1998. Case study report : plastic recycling in Bangalore. Gouda, The Netherlands : WASTE. <www.waste.nl/page/287>. Accessed December 2009.

Styrene. 2009, December 16. In Wikipedia, The free encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Styrene>. Accessed 07:47, December 31, 2009.

Styrene Producers Association (SPA) 2008. Environmental aspects In Styrene Monomer : environmental, health & safety guidelines. (chap. 4). <www.styrenemonomer.org/4.1.html> Accessed December 2009.

Van den Berg S. 2009. Technical brief on recycling plastics, A small business. Rugby, Warwickshire, United-Kingdom : Practical Action. <www.practicalaction.org>. Accessed December 2009.

Vrushali L. 2008, August 22. Recycle that thermocole. <http://headlinehog.blogspot.com/2008/08/recycle-that-thermocol.html>. Accessed December 2009

University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Polymer Science. n.d. Polymer science learning center. <www.pslc.ws>

34

8. Annexes

8.1. Annex 1: Questionnaire for recyclers

General info

Contact person

Name of the unit

Phone number

Address

Number of employees

Employees salary

Working days/month

Working hours/day

# Suppliers (scrap dealers)

Surface [m2]

Max recycling capacity [t/day]

Income

Cost

Investment price (for the place)

Maintenance price (for the

place)

Labor

Technology

35

Input

Type of plastics

Quantity [t/month]

Quality Origin* Indus/con

Location Transportation mode

Range of price [Rs/t]

*Origin: industrial waste (industries, scrap dealers, others) OR post-consumer waste (scrap dealers, rag pickers, others)

Resources consumption

Water [t/month]

Energy [t/month]

Chemical [t/month]

Chemical [t/month]

Chemical [t/month]

36

Plastic output

Type of plastics

Quantity [t/month]

Quality Destina-tion

Location Transportation mode

Range of price [Rs/t]

By-product / unused material / wastewater / other waste output

Type of waste Quantities [t/month] Destination*

* Destination of waste: Disposal (into vacant sites, garbage bins, open drains, proper dumping sites), burning (through

incinerator, in garbage bins, open drains, vacants sites), others methods

37

8.2. Annex 2: Contacts

Waste management NGO

Institutions

Karnataka State Plastic Association #2, 2nd floor, Vokkaligara Bhavan Hudson Circle Bangalore - 560 027

Source Saahas

Contact persons Mr. Chandra Mohan (Director): +91 9844015441

Email ID [email protected]

Language English

Initiative We phoned several times and finally got an appointment.

Date of visit 20.11.09

Saahas 431, 8th Cross, Jayanagar Ist Block Bangalore - 560 011

Source R.O.I.

Contact persons Mrs. Wilma (director): +91 9880124921

Mr. Babu (field staff): +91 9342578547


Language English

Initiative We phoned and got an appointment.

Date of visit 6.11.09 and 19.11.09

Approach We introduced ourselves as interns working for R.O.I and willing to do a project on informal recycling in Bangalore.

Result Saahas told us that from their experience we know EPS recycling is particularly ineffective in Bangalore but no one has studied the problem. Saahas provided also some contacts.

38

Approach We introduced ourselves as students working for R.O.I. and doing a project on EPS’ recycling effectiveness.

Result We asked for quantitative information about the consumption, the production and the recycling of EPS. We also asked for contacts. Unfortunately Mr.Mohan was not able to answer the questions.

Indian Plastic Institute c/o SCJ Plastic Limited 497,75th 'E' Cross, 10th 'F' Main Rajajinagar 6th Block Bangalore - 560 010

Source Saahas

Contact person Mr. Hariram Thakkar (Chairman of the Indian Plastic Institute, Mumbai and Regional Director of SCJ Plastic) +91 9845050290.

Other phone numbers

+91 8023203218

+91 9023304452

+91 8023157860

+91 9845050290

+91 9379555465


Language English

Initiative After several phone calls we got an appointment, which was postponed several times.


Approach We introduced ourselves as student working for R.O.I and doing a project on EPS’ recycling effectiveness.

Result We asked quantitative information about the production, the consumption and the recycling of EPS in Bangalore. Mr. Thakkar said he didn’t know anything about EPS but he promised to organize a meeting including three persons: one from the packaging industry, one from the raw material industry and one from the recycling industry. He asked us to send our questions by email, which we did. However when we recontacted him twice, he said it was not possible to organize this meeting at the moment.

39

EPS manufacturers

East India Technology Private Limited (EITPL) Survey No 17, Kammanahally Bannerghatta Road Bangalore – 560 076

Source Online directories

Contact person Mr. Nataraj (Human Resources): +91 9739995622


Language English

Initiative We first went to the unit without a fixed appointment. The security guards said a letter with the purpose of visit is requested in order to enter the unit. So we asked our professor at University of Lausanne for a letter and phoned the HR for an appointment.


Approach We introduced ourselves as foreign students of Industrial Management doing a project on EPS packaging.

Result We were able to visit the whole manufacturing process and to ask questions about the functioning but not to take photographs. The quantitative questions were vaguely answered.

Fortifori No B-43, 3rd Stage Peenya Industrial Area Bangalore – 560 058

Source Saahas

Contact person Mr. Girish (owner): +91 8028361356


Language English

Initiative We sent an email in order to ask whether we could visit the unit. But we did not get a reply. Three days later we went to the unit without any appointment.



40

Result We were not allowed to visit the unit and could not ask any questions. We could only see the outside of the unit.

Sri Venkateshwara Enterprises No 72, 15th Cross Doddana Industrial Estate Viswaneedam, Bangalore – 560 091


Contact person Shivarudraiah (owner): +91 9845168705

Other phone numbers

+91 802836144 (incorrect) +91 8066498020 (incorrect)

Language English

Initiative We went to the unit without a fixed appointment.


Approach We introduced ourselves as students working for R.O.I. and doing a project on EPS financial and ecological advantages.

Result The owner was absent. The supervisor called him but didn’t get the authorization to let us enter the unit. The owner said his plant was very small and that we should visit a larger company.

Taurus Thermo Tech Private Limited No v-78, 5th Main, 2nd Stage Peenya Industrial Estate Bangalore – 560 058


Contact persons Mr. Chandra Shekar GC and Mr. Ravi +91 80 28362872

Other phone numbers

+91 8023496920 +91 8023497995 +91 8023583658 +91 9845004979

Language Kannada

Initiative We wanted to go to the unit without a fixed appointment but we could not find it. We were told that the address (5th main) does not exist in Peenya 2nd stage, so we phoned the owner.


41

Approach We introduced ourselves as students working for R.O.I. and doing a project on EPS financial and ecological advantages.

Result The owner was not willing nor to talk to us or to give us the proper address of the unit.

K.K. Nag

484d 4th Phase Peenya

Bangalore - 560 058

Old address: Plot No 26A, Veerasandra Industrial Area, Hosur Road, Bangalore


Contact persons Mr. Sumathi: + 91 80 27481639 (incorrect)

Other phone number

+91 81107870806 (incorrect)

+91 81107870807 (incorrect)

+91 81107834564 (incorrect)

+91 8028362932 (incorrect)

+91 8023335093 (incorrect)

Initiative We tried to phone all the phone numbers found but no phone number worked. We then called the head office in Pune to get the correct phone number but received an invalid phone number. Finally, we tried to go to the unit without any appointment. We learned there from the landsman that K.K.Nag shifted in 2008 to a new place, which we own and no longer rent.

Thermoshells Unlimited No 9, Shambari Nagar Main Road Peenya I Industrial Stage Bangalore - 560 058


Contact persons Mr. Thyagarai (owner): + 91 8032717215

Other phone number

+91 9845026899

Initiative We did not try to contact this unit because it is very far from R.O.I.’s office.

Ravikrishna Thermopack No 191, 5th Main, Ayappa Temple Road Prakash Nagar Bangalore

42

EPS fabricators


Contact person Mr. Krishnamurthy (owner): +91 8066498048


Naveen Thermofab 1st Main Road, Tavarkere Madivala Bangalore - 560 021


Contact persons Mr. Naveen (owner): +91 9886693470

Language Kannada

Initiative We first went to the unit without a fixed appointment. The supervisor told us we should contact the owner and gave us his number. We then phoned the owner and got an appointment.


Approach We introduced ourselves as students working for R.O.I and doing a project on EPS recycling.

Result At the first visit, the owner was absent and the supervisor was not willing to talk without the owner’s permission. Nonetheless we could observe the inside of the factory and the work in progress. At the second visit, the owner was not there as promised, no additional information was obtained.

Millenium Enterprises No 32, 1st Cross, Avalhalli Bola Layout Giri Nagar, Banashankai 3rd stage Bangalore – 560 085


Contact persons Mr.Chethan (owner) : +91 9845566914

Other phone number

+ 91 80 26917254

43

Language Kannada

Initiative We called the owner who redirected us, for an unknown reason, to Hindpac Industries, a friend company of Millenium Enterprises.


Result We got the contact of Hindpac Industries.

Hindpac Industries Sy. No 138/1, Kadabagere Cross Machohalli, Magadi Main Road Bangalore - 560 091

Source Millenium Enterprises

Contact persons Mr. Ramesh (owner): +91 9341323887

Other phone number

+ 91 80 2836887


Language English

Initiative We phoned the owner and got an appointment.



Result We were able to visit the unit and do an informal interview but not to take photographs. The owner was not ready to provide any kind of quantitative information but he did give the contact of one recycler (Veekay Industries).

Thermowell insulation and package Bodrahalli (Kenchanahalli) Rajavajeshwavi, Mysore Road Bangalore - 560 098

Source Tanuj Thamanna

Phone numbers + 91 8028600344 + 91 8028607594


44

EPS recyclers

Tulsiram and Company Nayandahalli Bangalore – 560 039

Source Saahas

Contact persons Mr. Rakesh (owner): +91 9844013386

Language Kannada and English

Initiative Saahas arranged the visit.


Approach We went to the unit with a field staff of Saahas and introduce ourselves as interns of R.O.I working on EPS recycling.

Result We were able to visit the unit, talk to the supervisor (Mr. Partha), use more or less the prepared questionnaires and take photographs. Quantitative questions were not answered. The supervisor gave leads to other areas where reprocessing and manufacturing units are based but no names neither proper address.

Veekay Industries G1, G2 & B1, B2, KSCB Complex 3rd Phase, Peenya Industrial Estate 2nd stage, Laxmidevi Nagar Cross Bangalore - 560 058

Source Hindpac Industries

Contact persons Mr. Kamath (owner) +91 9835075846

Other phone numbers

+ 91 8028397533

+ 91 8028398843


Language Kannada and English

Initiative We phoned the owner and got an appointment.


Approach We introduced ourselves as foreign students of Industrial Management doing a project on EPS recycling.

45

Result We were able to visit the unit, ask questions and take photographs. The quantitative questions were vaguely answered and the contact of a sister company (En-Kay Industries) was given.

En-Kay Industries C-37, KSSIDC Pillagumpa Industrial Estate, Hoskote Bangalore Rural District – 562 114

Source Veekay Industries

Contact persons Mr. Kamath (owner): +91 9835075846 Mr. Babu (supervisor): +91 9241561822


Language English

Initiative We phoned the supervisor and got an appointment


Approach We introduced ourselves as foreign students of Industrial Management doing a project on EPS recycling.

Result We were able to visit the unit, ask questions including quantitative questions and take photographs.

Unknown name

Source Saahas

Contact person Mr. Mahayan : +91 8026485493, +91 9341437040

Initiative We tried to phone several times several days but were not able to reach us.

46

Industries using EPS packaging

EPS machinery manufacturer

APC 187/3, Jigani industrial area Bangalore – 560 105

Source East India Technology Pvt. Ltd.

Contact person Mr. Deepak Mangalore (Human Resource): + 91 80 7812070.

Language English

Initiative We called Mr.Deepak and said that East India Technology Pvt. Ltd gave us the contact.

Approach We introduced ourselves as foreign students doing a project on EPS packaging advantages and being interested therefore in knowing the opinion of companies using EPS packaging.

Result Mr.Deepak was not willing to help. It was not possible to meet him.

Fang Yuan


Contact person Mr. Nair: +919342595847

Language English

Initiative The researches called Mr. Nair.

Approach We introduced ourselves as foreign student doing a project on EPS packaging and interested in knowing more on EPS processing possibilities.

Result Mr. Nair was not willing to help. It was not possible to meet him.

47

8.3. Annex 3: Other EPS end-of-life options This section presents briefly and without means of exhaustibility other EPS end-of-life options.

Thermal compaction

In the U.S.A. Taylors Products Limited invented a machine called StyromeltTM, which reduces the volume of EPS waste by 95% and sterilizes it on site. (Taylors Products Limited, n.d.) Thus it reduces the number of trucks required to transport EPS waste and is able to sterilize dirty or contaminated EPS.

The machine is very simple to use. The operation is restricted to filling the machine with EPS, switching the machine on/off and removing the briquettes. 2m3 of EPS can be filled in the machine and will come out 1.30 hours later as a sterile and recyclable briquette of 90cm x 25cm x 5cm. The briquette can be easily and safely stored until there are enough briquettes to send for recycling.

The machine is designed to minimize the emissions sent to the environment. Its operation emits primarily steam and styrene vapors. A pre-filter and a special blended carbon filter treats this vapors. The machine’s styrene emissions are about 4ppm/m3, which is far below the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) threshold level of continual styrene exposure (200 ppm/m3). (Taylors Products Limited, n.d.)

This technology is successfully used by industries in the U.S. and in Europe producing large amounts of EPS waste, such as EPS manufacturing industries and industries using EPS packaging (fish merchant, electronic industries, etc.). However it does not seem appropriate for Bangalore’s situation. First of all, the technology is very expensive. Secondly, it does not help the problem of the EPS waste dispersion. It is only practical where EPS waste in concentrated, such as in industries and businesses using polystyrene packaging.

De-polymerization

Since 1998, a chemical way to recycle EPS has been developed by SONY in Japan. (Hadengue, 2008). The principle is to de-polymerize EPS, i.e. break it down into monomers, with a solvent. D-limonene (C10H16), a terpene hydrocarbon found in citrus or orange peels, can purify, degasify and condense EPS to 2% of its initial volume at ambient temperature. (BES, 2008)

The resulting solution of EPS and d-Limonene is a gel-like substance that contains impurities, which were present on the EPS initially. The gel is heated at 140°C and filtered in order to eliminate the impurities. It is then vacuum-distilled at 240°C in order to separate the polystyrene from the d-limonene. The polystyrene recovered is clean and can be used to manufacture new PS products. While the d-Limonene recovered is also clean and ready to be reused. (Hadengue, 2008).

This method has several advantages. It uses a non-toxic and cheap natural solvent. The solvent can be recovered and reused and is not required in huge quantities. According to SONY, 18 liters of d-Limonene are sufficient to dissolve 10 kg of EPS and the EPS waste does not need to be sterilized before procedure. (Hadengue, 2008). This technology can process slightly dirty or contaminated EPS waste. Its process produces 30% less CO2 emissions and consumes 20% less energy than mechanical recycling (re-melting). (Hadengue, 2008). Hence, studies show that EPS recycled in this way has a good quality because d-Limonene is an antioxidant so it allows the polystyrene to keep its initial mechanical properties. (Hadengue, 2008).

48

To conclude de-polymerization seems promising. It is easy and environmentally sound and could perhaps lower the cost of EPS recycling, as the technology required is cheap and can treat even soiled EPS. However it is still in the experimental stage. If its experimentation turns out to be fully successful, this would definitely be an option to examine for Bangalore.

Incineration with energy recovery

Energy recovery from incineration is the reclamation of energy in the form of hot vapor, which can be converted in electricity or used for heating. EPS, as all plastics, has a comparatively high calorific value (40 MJ/kg) since it is a petroleum product. (EPASA, 2006) Its incineration releases a valuable source of energy and aids in the burning of other garbage by feeding the fire. (IEPA, n.d.) Plastic industries even argue that plastic waste is not a problem as its combustion provides a lot of energy and that plastic is the most calorific material.

Where the incinerator conforms to regulations for safety and pollution abatement, EPS incineration does not produce any harmful gases. It emits only carbon dioxide, water vapor and a trace of non-toxic ash. (IEPA, n.d.) Thus incineration of EPS with energy recovery, especially EPS difficult to recycle, such as contaminated EPS, is a mean of generating real value. However as Bangalore has no incinerator currently, this option cannot be considered yet.

Reuse as soil conditioner

A simple re-use of EPS is to grind it and use it as soil conditioner to improve drainage and aeration and to prevent hard packing of soils by tractors. (REPSA, n.d.) It is argued that it is a safe practice as EPS is chemically stable, does not rot and does not soak up water. But it also introduces a non-biodegradable product in the soil and is a priori against nature.

Thus, in our opinion, EPS waste should no be used as soil conditioner in the open environment because it could have unexpected long-term and direct or indirect ecological effects on plants and animals, for example birds may confuse the beads with grains and eat them. In short, it does not have its places in the soils ecosystem. But if it is only used in garden centers and plant pots, i.e. in artificial environment, it could be discussable and therefore more research should be done on this practice’s effects and especially the long-term ones,

This would be an accessible option for Bangalore’s EPS. However it does not solve the problem of EPS collection and the EPS waste generated in Bangalore is likely to be more important than the garden centers and plant pots need for soil conditioner. Thus it would be an option only for a part of EPS waste. Though it would be meaningful to promote this solution in order that individual and companies would use it in their own households or work area. In that way the problem of collection would disappear.

Reuse for the production of lightweight concrete

EPS can also be reground and mixed with cement to produce prefabricated lightweight concrete for structural and thermal insulation applications. (ACC, n.d.) “Optimum physical and thermal properties are achieved with low density spherical EPS aggregate due to it's effective "arching properties within the cement matrix, low moisture absorption to minimize water/cement ratios and maximum strength/weight ratios and a permanent uniform resistance to the flow of heat. Consequently, lightweight concrete containing EPS aggregate has captured a growing market throughout the world for such structural and thermal insulation applications including sandwich panels, precast concrete building systems, insulation roof fill and decorative architectural and landscaping products ”(EPASA, 2006).

49

In short, in this option EPS waste adds value to a product since lightweight concrete has many advantageous. However it does not solve the problem of collection. Furthermore before implementing such an option, studies on the lightweight concrete end-of-life, in particular on its recyclablility, should be done.

References

American Chemistry Council (ACC). n.d. Modern materials archive, Energy efficiency, Making a good thing better. <www.americanchemistry.com/s_greenbuilding/doc.asp?CID=2155&DID=9066>. Accessed December 2009.

Blue Earth Solutions (BES). 2008. A green solution to EPS waste. <http://blueearthsolutions.com/investor/IR/BESNProfile%2012.08.pdf>. Accessed December 2009.

Cleaner Production Action (CPA). n.d. Producter Take Back, Introduction. <http://www.cleanproduction.org/Producer.Introduction.php>. Accessed December 2009

Hadengue M. 2008. Etude sur les alternatives de valorisation des résidus de polystyrène à l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. [Study on the recovery alternatives of Polytechnique Montréal School’s polystyrene waste] <http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:AThN0XknLLwJ:www.polymtl.ca/enviropoly/docs/documents/PFE-Valorisationdesresidusdepolystyrene.pdf+Etude+sur+les+alternatives +de+valorisation+des+r%C3%A9sidus+de+polystyr%C3%A8ne+%C3%A0+l%E2%80%99%C3%89cole+Polytechnique+de+Montr%C3%A9al.&cd=1&hl=fr&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a>. Accessed December 2009.

Recycling Expanded Polystyrene Australia (REPSA). n.d. EPS Recycling <http://www.repsa.org.au/Default.aspx?tabid=69>. Accessed December 2009.

Taylors Products Limited. n.d. Polystyrene Recycling System, Styromelt™. <www.styromelt.com>. Accessed December 2009

50

8.4. Annex 4: Alternatives to expanded polystyrene

Without a life cycle assessment, it is not possible to affirm what is best in term

s of environmental impacts, the following table just gives a glance

whether first of all EPS has accurate substitutes.

Altern

atives

Descri

ption

Natu

ral re

sourc

es

requir

ed

Equiv

ale

nt pro

pert

ies

Com

para

tive

advanta

ges

Com

para

tive

dis

advanta

ges

Expanded

poly

eth

yle

ne

Therm

oplastic foam

made of polyethylene.

1. Fossil resources as

raw m

aterial and for

manufacturing

1. Weight by

functional unit

2. Water resistance

3. Shape versatility

4. Bio-degradablility

1. Unbreakability

2. Recyclability

1. Cost

2. Therm

al

conductivity

3. Compression

resistance

Paper

pulp

Fibrous m

aterial

prepared by chemically

or mechanically

separating fibers from

woods, crop fiber or

waste paper.

1. Wood and recycled

paper as raw

material

2. Fossil resources for

manufacturing

3. Water for

manufacturing

1. Weight by

functional unit



2. Recyclablility

3. Cost

1. Therm

al

conductivity

2. Water resistance

3. Compression

resistance

4. Unbreakability

51

0 Altern

atives

Descri

ption

Natu

ral re

sourc

es

requir

ed

Equiv

ale

nt pro

pert

ies

Com

para

tive

advanta

ges

Com

para

tive

dis

advanta

ges

Bio

-foam

Foam made of organic

materials, such as

popcorn, fungi, starch,

sugarcane

1. Renewable

resource as raw

material

2. Fossil resources for

manufacturing

1. Weight by

functional unit

2. Therm

al

conductivity

3. Compression

resistance



2. Compostablility

3. Versatile and

moldable

4. Insulating

1. Water resistance

2. Cost

3. Ethically

discussable as it

enter in competition

with crop for food

4. Durability (lasting

capacity)

Table

9: O

verv

iew

of EPS a

ltern

atives.

Furthe

r re

adin

gs

Eerten, van T. W. 2009, June 3. Polystyrene from surplus sugarcane. Radio Nederland W

ereldomroep. <http://www.rnw.nl/ar/node/3892>.

Accessed December 2009

Shin L. 2009. Using fungi to replace Styrofoam. <http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009 /04/13/using-fungi-to-replace-styrofoam/#more-5351>.

Accessed December 2009.

USDA/Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS). 2009, October 4. Inventors Offer Ecofriendly Substitutes For Polystyrene. In ScienceDaily.

<http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/10/091002101943.htm>. Accessed December 2009

Table of content · 2 Table of content 1. Introduction ..... 3

Documents

Transcript of Table of content · 2 Table of content 1. Introduction ..... 3