PLASTtics to be CLEANED by sorting and separation of plastics and subsequent recycling of polymers, bromine flame retardants and antimony trioxide

Project Information

PLAST2bCLEANED

Grant agreement ID: 821087

DOI

10.3030/821087

Project closed

EC signature date 6 May 2019

Start date 1 June 2019

End date 29 February 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 4 500 830,00

EU contribution

€ 4 500 830,00

Coordinated by

NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - PLAST2bCLEANED (PLASTtics to be CLEANED by sorting and separation of plastics and subsequent recycling of polymers, bromine flame retardants and antimony trioxide)

Reporting period: 2022-06-01 to 2024-02-29

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In 2021, 10 million tons of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) were generated in Europe containing 25 wt. % of plastics. Due to the growing number of electronics sold and decreasing product life spans, this waste stream is predicted to continue to grow in the following years. WEEE plastics often contain undesired additives that hamper recycling in Europe. WEEE plastics containing brominated flame retardants (BFR) ) and antimony trioxide (ATO) as additives are currently incinerated or landfilled. Hence, a closed-loop solution is needed. PLAST2bCLEANED’s aim was to develop a human and environmentally safe recycling process for WEEE plastics in a technically feasible and economically viable manner. The target was to close three material loops: (1) polymer; (2), bromine fraction; and (3) antimony trioxide fraction.

Key technologies developed within the project are: (1) improved sorting of HIPS and ABS that contain BFR from other polystyrene and ABS fractions; (2) dissolution of WEEE plastics in superheated solvents; (3) separation of additives to concentrate brominated flame retardants (BFR) and antimony trioxide (ATO) fractions for recycling; (4) energy efficient recovery of solvent and of polymer. The developed technology was integrated in a pilot facility with capacity of TRL 5 delivering polymer samples that were tested in real life products. An environmental and economic assessment is performed to show the sustainability and economic viability of the process.

The overall concept of PLAST2bCLEANED is depicted in Figure 1.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main results of the project are the following:
1. An innovative mechanical presorting prototype at TRL 5. The prototype based on Raman spectroscopy and Machine Learning is able to pre-sort ABS and HIPS in real-time. For application in an industrial setting, performance needs to be further improved. The developed Raman sorting prototype at TRL5 is located at GAIKER, Spain.
2. A superheated dissolution technology for removal additives and recovery of the polymer. The solution has been demonstrated at TRL5 with a sorted, post-consumer WEEE stream as input, generating a high-quality ABS stream as output.
3. Prototype demonstration and integration of the developed dissolution technology at a TRL5. This WEEE recycling facility at TRL5 has been realized with a capacity of 1-2 kg/batch polymer recovered and was used to demonstrate the developed process and deliver 9 kg of recycled ABS. ABS is the most abundant polymer in WEEE plastics and has wide application possibilities after recovery. The TRL 5 facility is located at Fraunhofer in Pfinztal, Germany.
4. BFR removal and recovery. Although the BFR fraction did not look good, by processing these removed BFRs using a high-temperature incinerator, part of the BFRs could be removed and recovered.
5. ATO removal and recovery. ATO recovery was reached under laboratory testing conditions to recover a fraction containing relatively pure antimony.
6. Demonstration of recovered ABS polymer in an electronic product. The ABS recovered with the TRL5 facility was re-compounded and blended with around 70% virgin ABS and then used to make a washing machine door frame. Both the re-compounding and door frame passed all quality checks, except for the color - as it was grey.
7. Acceptance of technology by performance of economic and environmental assessment. By comparing the effects of this novel technology to existing disposal methods, we could highlight the advantages of the PLAST2bCLEANED technology. However, for actual acceptance and implementation there is a strong need for a stable investment climate which can only be created by a consistent set of policy measures to arrange a sustainable and equal level playing field for complex recycling of brominated EEE waste in the EU.

To conclude, PLAST2bCLEANED’s consortium succeeded in developing a human and environmentally safe process that recycles WEEE plastics at TRL5 in a technically feasible and economically viable manner. The closing of the material loops has been successful for the polymer, and soluble BFRs. The recovery of antimony trioxide has been proven in laboratory setting and needs to be further improved at pilot scale setting.

The project results have been successfully transferred to the stakeholders outside the project. Further scale-up activities of the PLAST2bCLEANED process are currently explored by project partners TNO and FHG, who will seek collaboration with industrial partners (and others interested parties).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In the EU, the PLAST2bCLEANED process can potentially treat 391 kton of heavy plastics and recover 69 kton rABS/HIPS per year. It was shown that PLAST2bCLEANED’s recycled ABS (rABS) have lower CO2 eq emissions than the virgin production. An additional increase in the environmental impact is obtained upon closing the BFR and ATO loop.

The PLAST2bCLEANED superheated dissolution process is economically feasible from a societal point of view, factoring in avoided waste incineration and avoided CO2 emissions. Without these, it is not (yet) commercially attractive. The PLAST2bCLEANED innovative sorting process can also be commercially attractive on its own since it improves the yield of clean, mechanically recycled plastics (PC and PC blends) and cables (metals).

As a final remark, the PLAST2BCLEANED partners found that there is strong need for a consistent set of policy measures to arrange a sustainable and equal level playing field for complex recycling of brominated EEE waste in the EU, addressing:
• Equal EU transboundary requirements for all products, semi-finished-products, raw materials and wastes (containing plastics).
• A stable regulatory environment for substances of concern with clear and realistic limit value projections.
• Creating an internal market for circular plastics, decoupled from the virgin plastics market (with recyclate pricing decoupled from the oil price).
• Creating sufficient plastic waste supply by increasing separate collection of recyclable waste streams (e.g. WEEE) and by banning export of plastic waste.
• Internalise CO2 externalities, i.e. include CO2 price in the cost price in the plastics value chain including recycling.

This will enable companies to invest in full scale plants the coming 10 years as well as continued further research and development.

More details can be found in our policy brief: https://plast2bcleaned.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/D6.17-POLICY-BRIEF.pdf