ChemWorld | 4 | January 1991
Recycling Plastics Is Good Business
Problems and opportunities are often opposite sides of the same coin. A current societal problem which represents a significant opportunity for Uniroyal Chemical is the crisis surrounding the scarcity of landfill space in many parts of the country. As a supplier to the plastics industry, Uniroyal Chemical is committed to producing and selling products which will enhance the “environmental friendliness” of customers’ products.
By 1992, 25 percent of the nation’s solid waste should be recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately for the plastics industry, there is a commonly-held misconception that plastics are not recyclable. Another purported shortcoming of plastics is that they are a waste of non-renewable petroleum resources.
Uniroyal Chemical and various industry associations, such as the Society of the Plastics Industry and the Society of Plastics Engineers, are now launching an all-out effort to educate the public as to the true environmental impact of plastics manufacture and use. Statistics are readily available which can demonstrate that plastics are no more hazardous to produce or use than any other material.
The principal thrust of educational efforts has been aimed at the central issue of plastics recyclability. The concept that plastics cannot be recycled has been unchallenged for so long that it has become “gospel” to large numbers of people.
While the technology to recycle most types of plastics is well-known, this new industry is not without its problems. Chief amongst these, and a fact which may account for the view that plastics cannot be recycled, is that plastics are most easily recycled when they are segregated by type prior to processing. Different types of plastics may be incompatible, so that when they are melted together, they do not form a cohesive blend and consequently lack
strength. Often, however, plastics are not segregated.
Uniroyal Chemical currently is developing a line of polymer modifiers to upgrade the properties of recycled resins. Royaltuf®, a modified ethylene propylene elastomer (rubber), is a family of polymer modifiers that is designed to increase toughness or to raise the impact properties of plastics, and to function as a compatibilizer enabling successful blending of otherwise incompatible resins. In many cases, the use of Royaltuf modifiers will allow a plastics producer to make engineer-
PLASTICS (SOLID WASTE) FACTS
■ Producing paper bags requires more energy and oil (as well as trees) than producing plastic bags. It also produces more pollutants.
■ Plastics were found to occupy only 18 percent by volume of waste generated in the United States in 1986, compared to paper, which generated 38 percent by volume.
■ Garbage incineration is actually helped by plastics in the trash because plastics burn hotter, providing improved combustion which can lower emissions.
■ The manufacture of all plastics uses only about two percent of the crude oil and natural gas consumed annually in the U.S.
■ Plastics in the average car cut fuel consumption by nearly five percent and contribute to improved safety performance.
■ Plastic packaging has helped reduce food spoilage in the industrialized world to around two percent. Developing countries have a spoilage rate of between 30 and 50 percent.
ing grades of plastics with properties equivalent to those of virgin resins. Many of these plastic alloys are ideally suited to high-performance applications such as automotive bumpers and body panels.
A second issue surrounding the recycling debate is the question of the thermal stability of the plastic to be recycled. While thermoplastics may be melted and reshaped, the use of excessive thermal energy may lead to degradation of the plastic. It is important that the stabilizers used in a plastic to be recycled are up to the task of withstanding multiple heat histories. Uniroyal Chemical includes
such evaluations in the testing of its existing line of thermal stabilizers (Naugard® antioxidants), as well as in the development of new versions. Additionally, stabilizers may have a tendency to migrate out of the plastics over time, so that stabilizers for plastics to be recycled must have a higher than normal degree of permanence. Here as well, Uniroyal Chemical is in the forefront of product development.
Many applications for recycled plastics are in the area of wood replacement. One characteristic of most plastics is that they are inherently heavier than wood. In order to give these products a more “wood-like” nature, many recyclers are using foaming agents to reduce weight. Given the fact that the recycled plastic feed stream will certainly not be as consistent as a virgin resin feed, the demands for flexibility placed on the foaming agent system will be great. As the only domestic manufacturer of chemical foaming agents (Celogen®, Kempore®, Nitropore®, Opex® and Expandex®), Uniroyal Chemical is devoting considerable attention to this issue as well.
Recycling is here to stay. Uniroyal Chemical is dedicated to supplying materials to the industry which will make the job easier and more profitable. And, as evidence that the company is truly committed, it has initiated its own recycling program within the company, segregating classes of materials and designating recycling coordinators for each department to ensure that waste is recycled.
Also, several technical employees of Uniroyal Chemical Company and other area companies are working with the Society of Plastics Engineers to organize a conference on plastics recycling in New England scheduled for June, 1991. The conference will seek to educate people from local state governments, area industry, and universities on the facts about plastics recycling. ■
UNIROYAL CHEMICAL