Sound management of waste, recovery of energy and biodegradable plastics

Manufacturers of plastic raw materials in Europe expressed, through the Organization PlasticsEurope, the conviction that these materials contribute very significantly to sustainable development and the quality of life.

It is common among the population blamed a series of negative characteristics, however, are not intrinsically related to these materials on plastics. It is clear that there are a number of situations that the plastics industry is not directly responsible, such as the indiscriminate abandonment of waste and the absence of recycling systems.

To achieve that society recognizes that the plastic materials are a responsible choice, PlasticsEurope has integrated together their efforts and work programmes national and European, in order to improve the knowledge of these materials, the level of credibility and commitment to our industry and the confidence in plastics.

The abandonment of waste and the lack of recycling it is irresponsible of who uses them, not who produces.

For many years, waste management has been a priority for PlasticsEurope. Now the objective is to develop and adapt new technologies and research to show market sustainable solutions best suited to the management of waste, including sustainable those that take into account economic, social and environmental factors.

Waste management will continue being present on the political agenda, requiring a follow-up continued by all the parties involved. In Spain, and given the local characteristics of the use of plastics in the domestic market, is developing two projects related to plastic waste management: campaign of revaluation of the bags of plastics and plastics in agriculture.

The first is a joint project between PlasticsEurope, bags manufacturers, marketers and the recyclers to encourage selective waste collection, reuse and subsequent recycling of plastic bags. You want to promote the use of the yellow container for the collection of plastic bags and strengthen the use of reusable plastic bags.

As for plastics in agriculture, the energy value of them is a joint project with the value chain to improve the management of plastic waste generated in agricultural activities, as well as to take advantage of and promote among users.

During the last years the plastics industry has devoted part of its resources to support the various options of recovery of plastic waste, carrying out various studies on the replacement of fuels, co-firing, and energy, of different kinds of waste - from packaging and packaging recoveryautomotive and electrical and electronic - equipment. In the debate on sustainable development, this research was extended to studies of eco-efficiency and resource management.

Despite the efforts of the industry, this topic seems to not be of interest to politicians and legislators. The reasons may be due to the lack of alternative options of energy recovery and the negative perception of incineration processes.

In Spain is to set up a project, in collaboration with Tecpol - German Agency specialized in environmental studies - and the company Spanish V. l. Clariana, specializing in separation of plastic waste from electrical and electronic equipment and automobiles.

In Spain is developing two projects related to plastic waste management: campaign of revaluation of the bags of plastics and plastic materials in agriculture

This project will aim to achieve the proper dialogue with the authorities of the Catalan Government to assess the needs and the various options in order to achieve the acceptance of the energy recovery as an alternative to the indiscriminate dumping of waste.

Plastics biodegradable / compostable are part of the extensive family of plastics. They can be produced from fossil or renewable resources.

As they are relatively young polymers, plastics industry and its customers are researching new products, processing methods, fields of application and recovery systems.

A combination of awareness-raising is needed to prevent the indiscriminate abandonment of waste citizen, education, putting force adequate laws and consistent waste management systems

Plastics biodegradable / compostable provide special applications properties specific and can offer certain advantages over the use and/or waste management. Although not all applications are suitable for biodegradable plastics / compostable, these are already being used in certain applications, mainly in the sectors of medicine, container and packaging, and agriculture.

The materials for any application are selected taking into account their suitability for the performance of the function and its life cycle. It is not correct to assume that the biodegradable plastics / compostable are themselves better for the environment.

To take advantage of the benefits that can provide these products and avoid potential harm must take into account design and life cycle considerations. Such potential damages may be:

• Existing "impediments to recovery and composting systems".
• Negative impacts on the ability of the compost (fertilizer) to help the growth of plants as substrate
• Uncontrolled emission of methane (which has a considerable effect on climate change) into the air in case of an anaerobic degradation occurs.

While it is a problem of behavior, biodegradable plastics / compostable are not the solution to the indiscriminate abandonment of waste. Plastics biodegradable / compostable may even exacerbate the problem because the consumer in general believes that this type of plastic will disappear quickly in the environment. A combination of awareness-raising is needed to prevent the indiscriminate abandonment of waste citizen, education, putting force adequate laws and consistent waste management systems.

In the case of waste containing plastics biodegradable / compostable, as well as for any other recoverable waste, all recovery options should be available - including energy recovery - in order to achieve a recovery of the fraction of residues of biodegradable plastics / compostable environmentally sensitive and economically viablei.e. eco-efficient. All environmental statements should be compliant with the ISO 14021: 2000 standard, be based on scientific principles and proven with evidence. The environmental declarations on the biodegradability or compostability of a product should be completely based on recognized international standards corresponding to the destination that are probably given to the goods and/or the packaging at the end of its useful life.