Recovery & Recycling |
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Polymer Identification Code
Polymers are specifically different from each other, performing differently - so for recycling, their technical integrity must be maintained. Furthermore, where the polymer logo is not present, it is much more likey in South Africa that the spent / waste item, will end up in landfill and that's just not an acceptable option anymore. We need to recover as much as we can for recycling or energy recover. It is for this reason that Retailers need to insist that their packaging bears the polymer logo.
As part of the "Extended Producer Responsibility" as defined in the new DEAT Waste Management Bill, the packaging industry needs to be proactive and ensure that the recycle logo appears on all products.
What are the polymer logos?
Why Polymer Identification Codes?
Download the Polymer Identification Code and start doing your bit to protect our over-burdened planet! |
| Where
do PC's go to die and Why is e-Waste considered
hazardous? |
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Ever wondered ..."Where do PC's, telephones and other electronic items go to die?" |
We
know!!
Yesterday's
high tech gizmos have become today's rubbish!
Computers, copiers, fax machines and more, end
up creating a graveyard of unwanted plastic, metal
and wires. A recent springclean at the head office
of the Plastics Federation uncovered several items
which had been languishing under years of dust,
now collected and destined for correct e-waste
disposal. We are happy to announce that "our
house is in order!"
It is estimated that approximately one million tons of electronic scrap is dumped in this country every year. Most of this disposal is done in contravention of the National Environmental Act, although the corporations concerned are often unaware of this. Typically, the procurement people do not realise the legal and environmental implications involved in purchasing and disposing of electronic equipment.
The ITA has launched its e-Waste initiative under
the banner of the "ITA Recycling Guarantee", and aims to contribute to strategies aimed at reducing
global warming, to improve the living conditions
for local residents based on better managed waste
streams, resource protection, reduced health risks
and an improved economic situation.
Two
sister companies, Sindawonye Granulators and Processors,
and Non Ferrous Shredders, have an answer to
the disposing of e-waste and plastics in an environmentally
friendly manner with no dumping, landfilling,
water, soil or air contamination taking place
in the recycling process of e-waste and plastics.
The result is re-usable material with extremely
low levels of impurity. 8 tons of e-waste and
6 tons of non ferrous metal waste is processed
hourly. The component parts are broken down into
the basiv raw materials and then separated by
means of magnetic composition, as well as air
separation techniques which rely purely on air
input. The metal components are separated from
all e-waste and cable, with the remaining plastic
being recycled and manufactured into useful commodities. For
more info contact Andre
Smit
Electronic Waste Management - Go green in 6 easy steps... |
1.Go Rechargeable: of the 15 million batteries produced and sold each year, most of them are disposable alkaline batteries, and only a fraction of these are recycled. Look for electronics that are rechargeable.
Treat those batteries right. Knowing how best to use and maintain rechargeable batters will boost their longevity and performance. |
| 2. Kill Vampire power: To ensure that you are not wasting electricity, pull the plug on devices when not in use, or put all electronics and chargers on a power strip. In this way, you can simply flip the power strip off when your electronics are not in use. |
| 3. Buy with energy in mind! Identify energy saving electronic devices. For example, LCD televisions use much less energy than plasmas! |
| 4. Make it a short circuit: Don't throw old cellphones into the rubbish bin which risks releasing chemicals into the ecosystem. There are many organisations and charities that recycle and reuse old electronics. More and more computer manufacturers are taking responsibility and adopting take-back programmes where they accept unwanted equipment. |
| 5. Buy used: Dont want to spend a fortune on technology? Find used electronics on the internet, in second hand shops, and even flea markets. |
| 6. Bright idea: the Solar Charger. There are increasing numbers of options for solar power. From handheld to backpack power, solar chargers now come in a specturm of types for juicing up phones, PDAs, Bluetooth headsets, iPods and laptops. |
Other Electronic Recyclers include:
|
African Sky Electronic Recycling |
www.ewaste.co.za |
info@ewaste.co.za |
22 Apex rd, Apex,Benoni; JHB
|
| Tel: +2711 845 4831; or |
| 12 Edmund Moreland Street, Tongaat, Durban |
032 945 2509 |
| |
| Darkling Industrial Metals |
Contact: Leo 082 428 0890 |
| Collect computer and cellphone scrap |
Why
is E-waste considered hazardous?
Computers
and other electronic equipment are manufactured
from materials found naturally as well as man-made.
While some naturally occurring substances, such
as chromium, are harmless in nature, their use
in the manufacture of electronic equipment often
results in compounds which are hazardous. A few of the toxins contained in electronic waste are Mercury, Beryllium, Arsenic and Lead. These
are highly toxic and especially harmful to human
health and the environment if not disposed of
carefully.
Did
you know that almost 3/4 of all computers ever
sold, remain stockpiled, awaiting disposal in
garages and office buildings? As you probably
know, dumping e-waste in landfill sites is harmful
to the environment, as the toxic
substances can leach into our soil and water,
posing obvious environmental risks. For more information
on what YOU can do to reduce the risk to our environment,
visit one of the following websites:
Important
E-Waste Contact Details
Suggested reading on "High-tech Trash": nationalgeographic.com
Back
to the top |
| Lonehill's
Recycling Initiative |
|
Recycling
programme in Lonehill ...
Pikitup,
a Johannesburg based waste management company,
was recently approached by Lonehill residents
to start a recycling programme for the suburb
of 4500 residents. At the time Mama She's Waste
Recyclers, a recycling company, had already put
the wheels in motion for a pilot project of this
kind. The residents of Lonehill, a suburb in the
northern part of Johannesburg, have come together
and devised a plan of action. The programme aims
to reduce waste to landfill and rather send the
household waste, that can be recycled, to a recycler.
Pikitup
kindly offered to donate the first three months'
supply of blue bags which would be used to collect
the recyclable waste. ( Please note that these
blue bags were made from recycled material too!)
Besides
educating residents on what can and cannot be
recycled, this programme is also creating an awareness
of recycling programmes already in operation in
other parts of the country.
The
programme was launched on 6 November 2006.
Step
1: Educate the residents. An information
leaflet was compiled and together with a blue
plastic bag, distributed to each home in Lonehill.
Step
2: Residents were to place all recyclables
such as glass, plastic and cans (but NOT paper),
in the blue bags provided which were to be left
on each resident’s kerbside and collected
by Mama She's Waste Recyclers, each Monday.
Sounds
easy? To date, 30% of all residents have displayed
their commitment to the success of this "pilot
project" and actively participate in the
programme. Although details of the programme appeared
in regional newspapers, many residents are still
unaware of the recycling programme and its benefits
to the community at large. The separation of recyclable
material means that the amount of material sent
to landfill is reduced and the municipality's
collection of waste in the area is less, which
could perhaps influence municipal charges for
services rendered.
Yes,
awareness certainly needs to be increased, but
its an ongoing education process. Thanks to the
residents of Lonehill, this project exemplifies
a community's commitment to managing their waste
recycling in a responsible manner, and thus ensuring
that future generations eventually reap the benefits.
Some
interesting facts:
- Mama
She's Waste Recyclers collect an average of
3,5 tons of recyclable waste from this area
each week.
- The
majority of the waste consists of plastic, glass,
tins and minimal amounts of paper and cardboard,
which are collected by Mondi Recyclers.
Back
to the top |
| Reduce,
Re-use, recycle and then RECOVER |
PLASTIC WASTE - THE 4 R's
There are a number of ways in which plastic waste
can be minimised, but the best answer lies in
combining the concepts of: Reduction, re-use,
recycle and recovery.
Reduce!
Reduction in the amount of raw materials used
to make plastic is the first step towards minimising
overall plastic waste. The growing use of plastics
means that today's packaging is up to 80% lighter
than the packaging of 20 years ago, meaning less
energy is used in their manufacture and transport.
Plastics are increasingly being used to replace
other materials to achieve overall resource reduction.
An
example where source reduction has been successfully
achieved was the introduction of refill packs
for detergents, which resulted in a 70% reduction
in materials used. Stretch film used for pallet
and security can now be made with up to 40% less
material. Expanded polystyrene cups use 5% polymer
and 95% air to replace other materials with a
heavier environmental impact.
Re-use!
Re-using plastic items gives them a longer life
and reduces the total volume of waste.
We all practice re-use in our everyday life.
For
example:
- we
use plastic bags as bin liners
- we
use ice cream containers for freezing our food
- we
use soft drink bottles for storing water in
the car
- we
buy refills in the supermarket
- various
types of industrial packaging is designed to
be used many times
Recycle! Mechanical recycling
Industrial post-consumer waste (such as plastic
film for the transportation and storage of goods)
is suited to mechanical recycling because of the
large amounts of single plastic type and the relative
cleanliness of the waste.
Domestic
household plastic waste is more difficult to mechanically
recycle due to contamination and the large number
of different types of plastic involved, although
there are several successful recycling programs
in place.
Large
amounts of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and
polypropylene plastic film is recycled back into
film and garbage bags, bumper bars and cases from
car batteries are recycled into water tanks, worm
farms and compost bins.
PET
soft drink bottles are either used to make bottles
with 25% recycled content or exported to be used
in carpet, ecofleece (i.e. track suit, parkas)
and other synthetic fibre applications.
Milk
bottles (made from HDPE) are one of the main plastics
collected and sought after in the recycling chain.
One of the main end uses is the large plastic
wheelie bin (or mobile garbage bin).
Expanded
polystyrene (EPS) produce boxes can be recycled
into waffle pods (used in the building industry),
added as granulate to make lightweight concrete
and for various decorative applications such as
garden ornaments.
Recycled
plastic is also used to make: outdoor furniture,
guide posts, building panels, railway sleepers,
vine poles, and chemical spill trays.
Recovery! Energy
There are some plastics that cannot be recycled
mechanically, such as contaminated medical waste,
food packages, personal hygiene products and many
other packaging products, such as confectionery
wrappers, that would be uneconomic to recycle
or would use more energy in the collection, sorting
and cleaning than would be saved by recycling.
In
many parts of the world people recover the energy
value from plastic. Because it comes from natural
gas and crude oil, it makes sense to use it as
an oil or coal substitute when it has finished
its life as packaging etc. Plastics in effect
borrow energy from the oil and gas stream, and
then return it when used as a fuel in waste to
energy conversion. This conserves the energy resources
of the world, reduces greenhouse gas emissions,
and therefore practices source reduction another
way.
Energy
recovery involves the collection of solid waste
to be burned at high temperatures to produce energy
for power and heating. These facilities are commonly
known as 'Waste to Energy' plants. Environmentally
sound 'Waste to Energy' facilities are in place
in many parts of Europe and Japan and modern plants
have emission profiles enabling them to be safely
operated in close proximity to major population
centres.
Reduce
by being a Green Consumer...
- Support
companies that offer environmentally intelligent
design which maximises potential dismantling
and recycling.
- When
buying electronic equipment, always enquire
about the expected lifespan of the equipment;
- When
upgrading equipment, consider whether
you really need the new equipment, or
would a new memory or video card improve
the computer's performance?
- Use
your buying power to put pressure on manufacturers
to stop using hazardous materials. In
most cases, safer alternatives currently
exist. Manufacturers should design clean,
safe and easy to recycle electronics,
that are not harmful to the environment
and have a longer lifespan;
- When
buying new equipment look for labels indicating
that the equipment is energy efficient;
- Donate
your e-waste to reputable centres such
as Footprints, who reuse and recycle e-waste
in an environmentally responsible manner.
Footprints creates jobs and develops self-owned
micro-business opportunities through its
e-waste programme and other activities
conducted at their centre. They also conduct
learning programmes and workshops on e-waste
and other environmental issues, to all
ages.
- For more interesting reading from the American Chemistry Council, download "Plastics Recycling in 4 Simple Steps"
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Back
to the top |
| Report signals way to recycle mixed plastics |
Recycling mixed plastics such a salad bags and plastic trays can be cheaper than sending them to landfill or burning them, a report published today has shown.
Click here to read more about a life cycle
assessment recently released by WRAP ( the Waste and Resources Action Programme). The assessment included a range of collection and recycling methods and compared them to
traditional disposal methods such as incineration and landfill.
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| Does recycling offer genuine benefits to the environment? |
A Life Cycle Comparison of Key Materials
A recurring theme in the debates that surround waste and resources management is the extent to which the recycling of materials offers genuine benefits to the environment. Often, critics of the policy drive towards greater recycling assert that the act of recycling may in fact have little or no benefit to the environment, suggesting that more energy may be used in getting materials to the recycling facility than is saved by the process of recycling.
In order to inform this debate more fully, WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) commissioned a major international research project from the Technical University of Denmark (IPU) and the Danish Topic Centre on Waste. The Danish team of experts, who have worked closely on the development of life-cycle thinking to inform future European waste strategies, conducted a comprehensive international review of existing life cycle analysis (LCA) projects that have used ISO standard methodologies to evaluate the impact on the environment of managing key materials in different ways – through recycling, incineration or landfill.
This study is the largest and most comprehensive international review of LCA work on key materials that are often collected for recycling – paper/cardboard, plastics, aluminium, steel, glass, wood and aggregates. To read the full report, download the Executive Summary and Final Report, or visit WRAP’s website at www.wrap.co.uk. |
| RCMASA
Tackles Hazardous Waste |
This is an alert to all who manufacture, fill,
use, empty, reprocess and refill drums and containers...
The Responsible Container Management
Association of Southern Africa (RMASA) promotes
the international principles of Responsible Container
Management to ensure global best practice and
to address the additional challenges of developing
countries where used drums and containers are
in high demand for domestic use. Read
more about this alert. (PDF document).
Sponsor a Happy Drum and save a life |
Every day, week, month poor people in our country – with no direct access to clean drinking water – buy and carry used, often contaminated drums for drinking water and other domestic use.
Health risks – skin burns, chest problems and poisonings – are common as well as environmental pollution.
 You can make a difference ...
Sponsor a Happy Drum is an RCMASA initiative to support the Ethekwini Municipality’s “Umgqomo Ophephile” Safe Drums Project, to provide virgin (new) drums to the informal traders and the poorest of the poor.
Sponsorships from R250 for a 210l drum (or 8 x 20l) for individuals and from R1000 for organisations will be appreciated as we need thousands to make this sustainable.
Sponsors, both companies and individuals, will be listed on the RCMASA website.
Drums for this project will be 20/25l white/natural or 210l blue, with the logo and wording embedded or printed on for clear identity. This will assist the authorities to stop the trade in used, contaminated drums and prevent them being sold for other purposes.
Sponsor a Happy Drum and save a life - A win, win, win for the poor, the sponsors and the environment.
Contact RCMASA (Responsible Container Management Association of South Africa)
on +27 (0) 32 942 8256 or liz@rcmasa.org.za
Visit www.rcmasa.org.za |
Back to the top
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| The
Plastics Recycling Sequence |
Many
enquiries are received for information
on the recycling of plastics. Although the term
"recycling" is used most of the enquiries
really equate to "collecting". It is
only after collection, that plastics, or any other
recyclable materials, are recycled i.e. processed
to get an end-product that can be re-used for
manufacturing other articles.
The
Plastics Recycling Sequence
1.
The waste plastics materials are collected from
sources such as households, supermarkets
and garbage dumps. Although collection of litter
is perfectly feasible it becomes a matter of logistics
as it is rarely concentrated. Time and the expense
of the actual collection, limit the viability
of the collection of litter.
2.
The collected plastics are then sorted
by type of plastics and often also by colour -
especially in the case of film.
3.
Individual types of sorted plastics are compressed
and baled.
4.
The bales are delivered to the real recycler
who may do further sorting once the bales are
opened.
5.
The plastics articles are size-reduced
i.e. cut up into smaller pieces or granules.
6.
The granules are put through a washing plant
to remove labels, residual contents packed in
the item and soil from, for instance, a municipal
garbage dump.
7.
After drying the granules are fed into an extruder.
They get melted down and the melt is extruded
through multi-hole dies in the form of continuous
strings.
8.
The strings are water cooled and chopped
up into pellets by a revolving cutter.
9.
The pellets are bagged and are then ready
to be sold to converters to produce new plastics
articles.
Collection
and Sorting
At
present a number of collectors obtain waste plastics
from factories, shops and garbage dumps and will
only collect types that they find easy to sell.
They
also do the initial sorting into the 6 major tonnage
plastics types. It is at this point that difficulties
can arise as the end-user does not want cross-contamination
of materials in the pellets supplied to him.
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Other
sites to visit:
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The Recycling Action Group has clear objectives |
Packaging is an essential component of modern life. It protects, preserves, informs, attracts, creates economical options and enables our lifestyles. Technology on the other hand, has enabled the packaging industry to reduce mass without compromising the integrity of the packaging itself.
The Recycling Action Group (RAG) under the chairmanship of Andrew Marthinusen, was formed to ensure tha the maximum is undertaken by all members to achieve optimal rates of recovery and recycling of packaging materials. |
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RAG is a not-for-profit Association of like-minded organisations who are involved in the recyling and recovery of the main packaging raw materials and who have formed this body for the following purposes:
- To identify opportunities in the South African waste stream where members can work together to improve the recovery rates of the various packaging materials.
- To engage and communicate with key individuals within the Central and Local Government Institutions to achieve certain objectives.
For more information contact Andrew Marthinusen at 011 706 3392
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Members: Collect-a-can * The Glass Recycling Company * PACSA (Packaging Council of SA) * Paper Recycling Association of SA * PETCO (PET Recycling Company) * PFSA (Plastics Federation of SA) * PSPC (Polystyrene Packaging Council) * Tetrapak |
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