Bags to pack stretch waste. Plastic bags and film. Where to put plastic bags. Solution Options

05.03.2020

Recycling plastic bags is an uptrend in solving waste problems, but there is still room for improvement, according to experts in the field of waste disposal. More and more grocery stores are getting involved in the plastic bag recycling program, which is playing an important role. Here are some important facts about plastic bag recycling.

Total recycling of waste plastics may grow

About 13 percent of all plastic bags, plastic film and PET bottles are recycled in 2014, according to the State Environmental Protection Agency. Polythene films are used in a wide variety of products, such as packaging materials. The rate of recycling of plastic bags is much lower than that of paper and metal or the recycling of plastic bottles. Almost 60 percent of all metals are recycled in 2014, according to the Agency, while more than 50 percent of paper is recycled in the same year.

Plastic Bag Recycling: Goals. The Association of Manufacturers of Plastic Products, which includes most plastic bag companies in Russia, has set a goal of 40 percent recycling of plastic bags and films by 2018. Achieving this goal will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save electricity to heat 200,000 homes each year, and reduce waste by 100 million kilograms annually.

The danger of plastic bags

One of the biggest dangers of plastic bags is the associated pollution and energy wasted in the original manufacturing process, which mostly uses natural gas. Recycling plastic bags at a waste sorting station, along with many other products made from recycled plastic, a waste disposal company offers a much cleaner production. The amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere is reduced by 50 percent, and the energy reduction reaches 70 percent in the process of plastic recycling.

Plastic bags are also responsible for hundreds of thousands of animal deaths at sea and on land. Sea turtles are extremely vulnerable because the floating plastic bags are like jellyfish, the turtles' main food source. Other marine animals, as well as dogs, goats, cows and other animals on land, have died after eating plastic bags.

The use of recycled plastic

The recycling process of plastic bags and other plastics results in recycled plastic and returns clean plastic granules used to make products ranging from carpets to ski jacket insulation, composite lumber and flooring.

Due to its versatility, low cost and durability, plastic has found its application in all spheres of life. Today, plastic is the most common man-made material on the planet. He is also the first in the list of garbage. The amount of plastic waste on the planet is reaching epidemic proportions. Many scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs began to pay attention to this problem.

Industrial machines for recycling (recycling) plastic, as a rule, are very expensive and quite complex in design. And, let's face it, on an industrial scale, plastic recycling does not pay off. Because the production cycle raw material - plastic product"much shorter and cheaper than -" garbage - sorting - plastic product - recycling - cleaning - raw materials - plastic product". That is why not all cities in the world have factories for processing plastic waste. And their mass appearance is not expected in the near future.

It turns out that the niche plastic recycling at home open. And waiting for those who monetize it from any side. And the common man doesn't need much. After all, the beauty of this niche is that junk plastic, in fact - garbage, lies under everyone's feet and is not needed by anyone. That is, excellent and durable material - for free! It remains to pick up, recycle, in one form or another, and reuse. And if you don't like the result, recycle it again!

Project " Precious Plastic» helps all consumers to give plastic waste a new life. He invites everyone to process plastic on their own using household machines, the drawings of which are freely distributed on the Internet.

This project, developed by the Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, shows what can be done to help stop the "plastic plague" in the environment.

Dave, preoccupied with the problem of plastic waste, found on the Internet drawings of several devices that allow you to somehow recycle plastic at home. Having collected the first samples, improved them, developed a modular concept for future devices, Hakkens created an international project " Precious Plastic". In which he invites everyone to assemble and use four simple but effective plastic recycling machines.

The use of devices allows you to extend the life of various plastic household items by simply processing them into others. Unnecessary to necessary. Dishes, artificial rattan, various interior elements - this is a small list of items that can be made from household plastic waste using these machines.

Four devices, depending on the type and quality of plastic, allow you to process it in different ways:

shredder or grinder - a device for grinding plastic waste into crumbs for further processing - heating;
extruder or squeezer - a device that squeezes out a heated plastic mass in the form of a bundle or tape. That is, it turns out an artificial rattan or a consumable for a 3D printer.
Injector or an injector - heats the polymer crumb to a plastic mass and injects it into the desired shape;
Press- plastic crumb under the influence of pressure and high temperature is pressed into various new objects.

The most amazing part of the project Precious Plastic» the fact that such unique machines are given away for free. More precisely, the drawings of the device and instructions for assembling them are available to everyone (there will be video instructions below). It remains only to assemble the cars and start making money on them.

How to make money recycling plastic at home? Recycling plastics and polymers at home!

First of all. Recycling waste plastic into the right plastic products and selling them as unique handmade items. This is the simplest and most affordable solution.

Secondly. Entire creative labs and co-working spaces are being opened on the basis of Hackens machines. Where anyone can come with their plastic waste, pay money, and work on the machines.

Thirdly. Assistance in the assembly and implementation of devices. Not everyone can master device drawings. And, even more so, to collect them. But, they are ready to buy assembled similar machines. Why not take advantage of this? Moreover, ready-made devices are quite expensive. Assembly, with everything you need, will take no more than a month for any handy man in the garage.

Fourth. You definitely have your own ideas!

Video number 1: how to assemble a shredder for shredding plastic

Video number 2: how to assemble an extruder for plastic recycling

Video number 3: how to assemble an injector for plastic recycling

Video number 4: how to assemble a plastic recycling press

So, having studied the video, you can start assembling devices. For more convenient work, we suggest that you study the drawings on the official website of the project. In English.

If the devices are too complicated, you can look at an easy way to recycle plastic bottles at home.

Bonus: the simplest device for cutting plastic bottles

There's a new project on Kickstarter plastic bottle cutter which empowers consumers to reuse plastic bottles.

The simplest device (and you will see this by seeing the photo below) allows you to turn an ordinary plastic bottle into a plastic thread of various thicknesses that you can use at your discretion.

From this thread you can weave various objects - from small baskets to elegant furniture elements.

In general, single-use plastic bottles are a valuable resource due to the fact that they are made using the highest quality plastic. But, this advantage is not taken into account by most people and the bottles are simply thrown away. The rate of bottle throwing is increasing every day. Therefore, the problem of efficient reuse and recycling of these materials is simply necessary and mandatory. This will reduce the scale of environmental pollution.

Every year, millions of plastic bags are used and thrown away in Moscow. It turns out that some of them are successfully processed. Today we will go to such an enterprise and find out how polyethylene is prepared for reuse.

The Moscow region company "Expert Vtor" does not process all types of plastic bags, but only film, bags, bags, defective stretch film production (the so-called shrink film) and LDPE.

LDPE is high pressure polyethylene or, as it is also called, low density polyethylene. LDPE waste can be generated during the direct production of polyethylene film. A lot of waste - in stores (packaging of bottles, boxes, boxes), glass factories (from packaging of bottles, cans), distilleries and breweries (from packaging of containers or finished products).

Stretch film is a linear high-pressure polyethylene (LDPE). It can stretch a lot. Due to this property, as well as increased resistance to punctures and tearing, stretch film is used for packaging various goods, in particular on pallets (pallets). Stretch film waste is mainly generated and accumulated in warehouses of any value, at customs terminals, in logistics centers, etc.

Popular T-shirt bags made of HDPE (low pressure polyethylene) and “biodegradable” bags, which can be found, for example, in Azbuka Vkusa, are not recycled by the company. Polypropylene film, PVC film, bubble film, polyamide film, LDPE+PP, LDPE+PA multi-layer films, and double-sided two-color films are also not suitable. Also, film contaminated with oils, fats, food waste and pesticides is not accepted.

The collected polyethylene first enters the warehouse. Up to 100 tons of film waste can be stored here, naturally in pressed form. At the first stage, the raw materials are carefully sorted. The stretch is separated from the LDPE, the types of films that are not processed by the enterprise's capacities are discarded.

After sorting, packages of a certain color are put into a crusher. In it, on V-shaped knives (this type is also called “dovetail”), the film is crushed to particles of uniform size. The knives are powered by an electric motor.

From the crusher, through the pneumatic conveyor, the so-called "crushed" gets into the sink. In it, with the addition of special cleaning solutions, the “crushed” is cleaned of dust and other non-plastic inclusions.

The next stage of processing is agglomeration. In it, the so-called "cooking" takes place. The operator loads clean "crushed" into the working chamber through the loading window.

The raw material enters the rotating rotor along the guides, is crushed by knives and due to friction against the body and among themselves is heated to the temperature of plasticization. In this case, the entire volume of loaded raw materials becomes similar to a mushy mass.

When the material becomes homogeneous, “shock” water is added to it, as a result of which the material is rapidly cooled and sintered into individual small irregularly shaped balls. For some more time, the agglomerate is dried at natural ambient temperature and unloaded into prepared containers to go to the final stage. The cooking process itself lasts from 5 to 10 minutes.

The process of granulation can be compared to scrolling minced meat through a meat grinder. Agglomerate, which we received at the previous stage, is loaded into the extruder hopper.

It is called so because the production of granules is based on the extrusion method - forcing the molten mass through a forming hole.

In general, the "mince" from the boiled bags is melted under the action of heaters and pressure created by a rotating screw. The polymer melt is forced through the filter into the rotating head of the extruder. So-called threads are already coming out of it. To cool them, they are passed through a water hose, and then into knives, where they are cut into homogeneous granules.

The granules are packaged in clean polypropylene bags, approximately 50 kg each. Special storage conditions are not required, but it is desirable that it be a dry room. The resulting granules, depending on the composition and color, are sold. Natural color stretch granule goes to the production of secondary stretch.

The natural color LDPE granule is used for the production of secondary shrink or technical film. Colored LDPE granules are mainly used for the production of garbage bags.

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Collection of polyethylene

Our company does not process all types of plastic bags, but only film, bags, bags, defective stretch film production (so-called shrink film) and LDPE.

But we do not recycle the popular HDPE (low pressure polyethylene) T-shirt bags and “biodegradable” bags, which can be found, for example, in Azbuka Vkusa. Polypropylene film, PVC film, bubble film, polyamide film, LDPE+PP, LDPE+PA multi-layer films, and double-sided two-color films are also not suitable. Finally, we do not accept film contaminated with oils, fats, food waste or pesticides.

Sorting

We transport the collected polyethylene to the warehouse. Up to 100 tons of film waste can be stored here, naturally in pressed form. At the first stage, the raw materials are carefully sorted. They separate stretch from LDPE, reject types of films that cannot be processed by our facilities.

Crusher

After sorting, packages of a certain color are put into a crusher. In it, on V-shaped knives (in our circles, this type is also called “dovetail”), the film is crushed to particles of uniform size. The knives are powered by an electric motor.

Washing

Cooking

The next stage of processing is agglomeration. In it, the so-called "cooking" takes place. The operator loads clean "crushed" into the working chamber through the loading window. The raw material enters the rotating rotor along the guides, is crushed by knives and due to friction against the body and between themselves is heated to the temperature of plasticization. In this case, the entire volume of loaded raw materials becomes similar to a mushy mass.

Granulation

The process of granulation can be compared to scrolling minced meat through a meat grinder. Agglomerate, which we received at the previous stage, is loaded into the extruder hopper. It is called so because the production of granules is based on the extrusion method - forcing the molten mass through a forming hole.

In general, our “minced meat” from boiled bags is melted under the action of heaters and pressure created by a rotating screw. The polymer melt is forced through the filter into the rotating head of the extruder. So-called threads are already coming out of it. For cooling, we run them through a water hose, and then into knives, where we cut them into homogeneous granules.

Storage

The granules are packaged in clean polypropylene bags, approximately 50 kg each. Special storage conditions are not required, but it is desirable that it be a dry room.

Finished raw materials

The resulting granules, depending on the composition and color, we sell. Natural color stretch granule goes to the production of secondary stretch. The natural color LDPE granule is used for the production of secondary shrink or technical film. Colored LDPE granules are mainly used for the production of garbage bags.

The packages owe their existence to refined oil and natural gas.
They are highly durable, but also biodegradable. Not even 60 years have passed since the invention and popularization of the first bags, which means that none of them has yet undergone absolute biological decay in natural conditions.
Household packages that have lost their consumer properties and ended up in the natural environment create sustainable pollution of the entire ecosystem. When they are heated and burned, harmful substances are released that are toxic to the entire ecological system.
The plastic bag can be recycled in an industrial environment, only separated from the contents.

Plastic bags.

Cellophane is a transparent fat and waterproof material made from viscose.
The environmental safety of cellophane is due to the high rate of its biological decomposition and the absence of plasticizers in the composition, and the glycerin contained in the composition is harmless to living organisms and, in general, to the environment. These qualities of cellophane revives interest in this type of packaging - when separated from dyes and impurities, it is completely processed by microorganisms and secondary processing is possible.

Oxo biodegradable bags.

In their production, the same polymer raw materials (crushed plastic bottles - flex PET) are used as in the manufacture of plastic bags, but with the addition of degraders. Additives artificially accelerate the process of biodegradation in the environment into carbon, water, trace elements and biomass under the influence of temperature, ultraviolet and oxygen. The decomposition period of oxo-biodegradable packaging is 1-3 years.
Impurities that reduce mechanical strength and contribute to the rapid decay of plastic make it impossible to recycle it in its pure form.

Hydro-biodegradable bags.

The basis for their manufacture are food crops - vegetable polymers obtained from food highly starchy crops such as beets, corn, wheat. They are distinguished by high environmental friendliness at all stages of operation, but low strength indicators and high resource costs in production.
The process of complete biological decomposition into carbon and water in 30-70 days, as a result of decomposition, biomass (compost) is formed.
A T-shirt type package is made from natural material; garbage bags and packing bags.

Paper bags. Kraft paper bags.

The raw material for their production is wood or waste paper. They have a short service life, thereby increasing their quantitative consumption and production costs for electricity and water.
The ideal scheme for optimizing production and environmental costs involves the integrated responsibility of the manufacturer and the buyer. Several recycling of one paper bag is possible - wood is used to produce packaging material, which after the expiration date is recycled back into packaging.
At the same time, waste paper is recycled with lower energy costs, and paper, having completed its consumer cycle, decomposes in the soil by microorganisms.

Reusable polyester bags.

Sewn from synthetic artificial material obtained from polymeric recycled waste (secondary plastic). Completely eliminate the need to purchase plastic bags. With daily use, one such bag will last from three to five years and replace several thousand bags.
Polyester products are included in the list of materials approved by the state sanitary supervision authorities of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for contact with food products, they are non-toxic when burned and decomposed.
Polyester bags are recommended for recycling.

Textile bags.

They are made from plant fibers - jute, cotton, flax, bamboo or recycled materials.
Eco-bags have become not just impersonal shopping containers, but an independent part of the wardrobe.
After completing their cycle of consumption, bags decompose into non-toxic substances.

Each of us can improve the situation with the environment, we just need to be careful about our own garbage and throw it into separate containers for solid waste.