Not every piece of packaging
makes such a spectacular exit. Millions of packages in Germany simply feel
empty at some point, squeezed out and useless. The result is two and a half million
tons of packaging waste each year that ends up in the yellow bag or the yellow bin. And from there to a sorting plant.
The problem is different kinds of plastic are difficult to separate from
each other and from other materials. That's why most waste ends up
being used for energy recovery. The empty packaging is burned for
energy in conventional power plants for example or in the steel or cement industry. At this sorting plant in southern Hessen the
MEILO company plans to greatly increase the proportion of reusable waste; the kind
that can be recycled into new products. Waste is collected from yellow bags and yellow
bins in the surrounding region. The problem is, the waste contains material
that doesn't belong here; like non-returnable packaging and a large
amount of other household waste as well. This bottle belongs in the yellow bin.
It's made of high-density polyethylene also known as HDPE. As does this bottle
made of polyethylene terephthalate or PET. And this bottle cap made of
polypropylene or PP for short. These reusable plastics are mixed up with
other materials. A homogeneous stream of material gets sorted out later in the
process. First the waste is gathered from a 300 kilometer radius that includes
the states of Bavaria, Baden Wuerttemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz and Hessen. 120,000 tonnes
of waste are gathered each year. That equals around five percent of the waste
collected in yellow bags and bins across Germany. The sorting takes place almost automatically. In a large machine hall the flow
of waste runs over a 2.5 kilometer long conveyor belt. In the first stage the
material falls into a large rotary sieve. Here the various packaging and other
materials are sorted out according to size. Smaller pieces simply fall through
the holes. The rest is transported to two additional drums. Finally five separate streams
are created containing different size material. Separating the material by size makes
further sorting procedures much easier. In a special air separator a blast of
wind blows lighter materials such as foil out of the material stream. The air
separator and other machines remove most of the foil from the material stream. That
makes the hard plastic easier to sort out. The more thoroughly the plastic is sorted out, the better it can later be used
to create high quality products. In a further stage an infrared scanner
quickly scans four types of plastic. Air pressure can then shoot out
the PP bottle caps for example. Then comes the PET and finally HDPE
sorted out of the material flow. Despite the automated sorting process the already
well sorted material streams are then picked through by hand. The most useful plastics stay on
the belt. Around one-third of the total initial material however consists of mixed plastics
and residual waste that has no further use. Everything from old shoes to pieces of wood. It's
all destined for energy recovery incineration. Packaging from the yellow bin is put through
more than 30 sorting procedures at the plant in Gernsheim. Along with HDPE, PP and PET waste
there are four other plastic fractions here. The sort of plastic is pressed into bales the
HDPE, PP and PET bales have a purity level of 94 to 98 percent. This well-sorted plastic waste is a
sought after secondary raw material in the plastic processing industry. The plant in Hessen supplies
companies in Germany and in neighboring countries. HDPE bottles for example are used to
make pipes or specialized pallets. PP plugs are often turned
into flowerpots or buckets. And PET packaging is turned into fibers used in
flea sweaters or into stylish lawn furniture. But even if the furniture looks great
and the sweater is comfortable these products only have a limited lifespan
within this kind of material recycling. Producing these products may save raw materials
such as oil but at some point they too will end up in the dump or waste incineration plants.
Despite all the sorting a full-fledged material cycle for plastic packaging
has not yet been created. To create a genuine cycle, that means a bottle
is made into another bottle, the sordid plastic fractions need further processing. Systec
Plastics in Thuringia is doing just that at a special plant in the town of Eisfeld.
First HDPE bottles and appear in a shredder. The resulting plastic shreds
are cleaned of any shampoo, yogurt or any other residue. And a special
procedure sorts out the last unwanted remains. The result is a colorful mixture of cleaned
flakes that are made almost entirely out of HDPE. These still have to be sorted
out by color. If they were melted down as is they turn a dirty gray. This color
sorting takes place in a special sorter. Special mechanics allow the machine to
isolate single flakes from a large mass. HDPE particles are run over a slide
piece-by-piece. Tens of thousands per minute. LEDs light up the material stream
while sensors recognize the different colors. The data is analyzed by a computer which
controls a panel fitted with more than 60 compressed air nozzles. A blast of air
shoots out the unwanted colors. Only the colorless flakes remain if so desired. After
this process is carried out over the first two slides it's repeated on the next two.
And the final repetition on the last one. The result is an output of 800 kilograms of sorted HDPE flakes per hour with a
purity level well above 99 percent. The materials melted at 220 degrees Celsius in an
extruder. The melt is pressed through a filter and once again purified. Then the liquefied plastic
is cooled and processed into granules. The result is a high-quality raw material that is put to
use nearly everywhere in the plastics industry. Besides HDPE packaging, polypropylene or PP caps are put through these elaborate cleaning
sorting and processing stages as well. Every year around 20,000 tons of
material from the yellow sack is processed here in Eisfeld. But only a
small portion gets the full treatment. Production capacity is set
to increase in the future and the procedure is to be further improved. "We can already take plastic from the yellow
bag and turn it back into plastic. We now plan to enter areas related to the food industry. We`ll
start with cosmetics then move on to food at some points. We think it'll take a few years and then
our plastic will be hygienic enough for that." Recycled material from Eisfeld is already
sought-after by the makers of washing and cleaning products. At its location
in Mainz the Werner & Mertz company produces more than 130,000 tons
of foamy and fragrant detergents. Normally the packaging ends up in the yellow
bag. To complete the material cycle the company tries to use as much plastic as possible from
the yellow bag to produce its bottles. The HDPE granulate from Eisfeld is fed here into a
machine. It's then melted in a special extruder. The bottles are formed under air pressure.
Afterwards excess material is trimmed off and the bottles are ready. Even though these bottles
were made using only recycled plastic from the yellow bag any standard production facility could
manufacture them. Finally the HDPE bottles are filled up as usual and delivered to shops.
Five and a half million bottles each year. It's not only HDPE bottles that are
made of recyclable material. These PP caps are also produced using 100
percent plastic from the yellow bag. Once again it's recycled granulate
from Eisfeld that does the job. "We use recycled material from the yellow
bag for our PET and HDPE bottles and for our PP caps. And we hope to increase this
share in the future. We're still looking for market partners in this initiative in order
to further lower recycling material costs." In other words: the more packaging producers
use recycling material from the yellow bag the greater the production capacity will grow.
Making it more economical to use this recycled material. At Werner & Mertz PET bottles
make up a large share of packaging. Despite all the sorting with high-tech machinery
adequate quantities of PET granulate from the yellow bag still aren't available. So
PET granulate from the yellow bag is mixed with PET granulate from the deposit system.
Mostly made from empty beverage bottles. The free forms from the first production stage
and Mainz are blown into bottles and later filled. In the end they're made of 20
percent PET plastic from the yellow bag and 80 percent plastic
from the deposit system. More than 80 million bottles are produced this
way each year at the plant in Mainz. The company aims to gradually increase the share
of PET bottles made with yellow bag material while at the same time using more of this high-quality
recycled plastic for all of its packaging. That means an HDPE bottle is made from
another HDPE bottle. A PP cap from a PP cap. And a PET bottle from another PET bottle. That preserves the raw materials and
energy invested in plastic production. Until now only a fraction of packaging
from the yellow bag and bin got recycled. But experience shows that plastic from the
yellow bag can be used in a material cycle. And no matter how unspectacular the
shot at least it's one bottle more.
