Plastic Recycling in India
Plastic Recycling in India
Plastic Recycling in India
Plastics, one of the wonderful inventions of 20th Century, is a Ubiquitous material. Plastics has
replaced the traditional material (paper / cloth etc.,) as packing and carry bags because of cost
of convenience. India has witnessed a substantial growth in the consumption of plastics and
increased production of plastic waste. The plastic waste is now considered as environmental
hazard due to the "Throw away culture". The hazards plastics pose are numerous.
The land gets littered by plastic bag garbage presenting an ugly and unhygienic seen.
The "Throw away culture" results in these bags finding their way in to the city drainage system,
the resulting blockage causes inconvenience, difficult in maintaining the drainage with increased
cost, creates unhygienic environment resulting in health hazard and spreading of water borne
diseases.
This littering also reduces rate of rain water percolating, resulting in lowering a already low
water levels in our cities.
The soil fertility deteriorates as the plastic bags form part of manure remain in the soil for years.
It has been observed that the animals eating the bags sometimes die.
Plastic goes into the ocean which is already a plastic infested body of water. Fish and other
marine species in the water ways, misunderstanding plastic garbage as food items swallow them
and die.
Overview
The quantum of solid waste is ever increasing due to increase in population, developmental
activities, changes in life style, and socio-economic conditions, Plastics waste is a significant
portion of the total municipal solid waste (MSW). It is estimated that approximately 10
thousand tons per day (TPD) of plastics waste is generated i.e. 9% of 1.20 lac's TPD of MSW in
the country. The plastics waste constitutes two major category of plastics; (i) Thermoplastics
and (ii) Thermoset plastics. Thermoplastics, constitutes 80% and thermoset constitutes
approximately 20% of total post-consumer plastics waste generated in India. The Thermoplastics
are recyclable plastics which include; polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Low Density Poly
Ethylene (LDPE), Poly Vinyl Chloride(PVC), High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE),
Polypropylene(PP), Polystyrene (PS) etc. However, thermoset plastics contains alkyd, epoxy,
ester, melamine formaldehyde, phenolic formaldehyde, silicon, urea formaldehyde,
polyurethane, metalized and multilayer plastics etc.
Categories of plastics
Recyclable Plastics (Thermoplastics): PET, HDPE, LDPE, PP, PVC, PS, etc.
Non-Recyclable Plastics (Thermoset & others): Multilayer & Laminated Plastics, PUF, Bakelite,
Polycarbonate,Melamine, Nylon etc.
Plastics waste forms a wide range. Predominantly it is film packaging and polythene carry bags,
followed by blow molded containers, and broken and discarded molded items. The range is
wide and includes –
- discarded PVC chap pals/shoes in varied colors and grades of plastics material.
- discarded PVC mineral water bottles/PET mineral water and liquor bottles and PS ice
cream/cold drink cups/disposable catering plates and grays and expanded PS and PE foam
packaging.
- PE, PVC, PP films, packages, shopping bags, and medicine foils, used and discarded molded
items like containers and range of household non-durable, combs, ball point pens, tooth
brushes etc.
- Broken plastics articles - mostly of PE, PVC, PS, PP, ABS, Nylon, PET, etc.
Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastics and reprocessing the
material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state.
For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic
chairs and tables. Typically a plastic is not recycled into the same type of plastic, and products
made from recycled plastics are often not recyclable
Processing the categorized plastic waste, accordingly into various raw materials and
Manufacturing of new products from these raw materials.. Some of the products formed by the
various plastic recycling process are tables, lumber, stationery items and many more durable
products.
After the usage of Plastics :- Generally plastics are non-degradable and hence they take a long
time to beak down. The disposal of plastic products has been contributing to the hazardous
pollution quite regularly.
The chemical composition of plastic, makes it one of the difficult items to be recycled. Plastics
have low entropy, because of which it is arduous to mix with the other polymers and/or
chemicals. The vast use of dyes and other additives in the plastics, makes them very hard to
reprocess. The process of removing additives from plastic is very costly and it has the risk of
destroying the plastic completely.
Types of Plastic Recycling
Process Scrap Plastic Recycling :- This method of plastic recycling is applied to the left over
products from the plastic manufacturing process. These left over products or polymers are
comparatively unpolluted and the process of recycling them is simple and cost-effective as well.
Post-use Plastic Recycling :- Processing household plastic waste is one of the biggest challenge.
Plastic products that have been used and thrown away, are recycled by the post-use plastic
recycling process.
Mechanical Plastic Recycling:- This method of plastic recycling includes various processes like
shredding, melting etc., of the plastic waste. First the plastics are classified according to their
polymer type. Afterwards the plastic should have to melted or made into a new shape. Apart
from this, the plastic waste is first shredded, then melted and then processed into granules.
Feedstock or Chemical Plastic Recycling :- This method of plastic recycling, involves the breaking
down of polymers, which can then be used in various industries. The feedstock plastic recycling
process is flexible and more forbearing to the plastic additives, as compared to the mechanical
plastic recycling. This is the most costly method of plastic recycling.
Selection: The recyclers / re processors have to select the waste / scrap which are suitable for
recycling /reprocessing.
Segregation: The plastics waste shall be segregated as per the Codes 1-7 mentioned in the BIS
guidelines (IS:14534:1998).
Processing: After selection and segregation of the pre-consumer waste (factory waste) shall be
directly recycled. The post consumer waste (used plastic waste) shall be washed, shredded,
agglomerated, extruded and granulated
Mature Markets
Conclusion
Plastic Waste Management has assumed great significance in view of the urbanization activities.
Plastic waste generated by the polymer manufacturers at the production, extrusion, quality
control & lab. Testing etc., stages, as well as, by the consumers require urgent disposal and
recycling to avoid health hazards. Various strategies are being devised to mitigate the impact of
plastic waste in India.