PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Plastic waste volumes in Western Europe increased by almost 50% between 1990 and 2002, from 25 million tonnes to approximately 45 million tonnes. Improvements in the management of plastic waste remain insufficient to counterbalance the growth. Hence, the amount of plastic waste going to landfill has increased. Europe has a long established capacity for reprocessing paper and glass, but capacity concerning plastic reuse, especially glass fibre reinforced plastic waste, is low and not sufficient.
OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of the project was to identify new opportunities for reducing the volume of the landfilled waste by upgrading and further developing a pyrolysis (dry distillation) process to turn glass fibre (composite) waste into two fractions: oil fraction and non-organic (fibre) fraction. The oil fraction was expected to be reused as an ingredient in normal oil refining processes and the fibre fraction was to be developed further as a construction/structural material for infrastructure.
RESULTS
The project developed the glass fibre shredding/grinding system and upgraded the pyrolysis from laboratory scale to pilot scale as foreseen. Pyrolysis tests on the ground fibre succeeded as such but the pyrolysed fibres did not have sufficient structural characteristics. Furthermore, results from the pyrolysis on non-organic fibres and oil did not prove suitable for the foreseen reuses either. This was because the oil contained too many impurities, which prevented it from being processed in the normal oil refining process.
The beneficiary then explored possibilities for using the recycled oil as a syngas ingredient - but rejected this option on economic grounds. The fibre component was also studied further but did not result in large practical tests.
In an attempt to identify more positive outcomes, the beneficiary arranged additional tests for using the shredded/ground (but non-pyrolysed) glass fibre as a construction material. This new use in the building industry contributes to the project objectives, to reduce the volume of the landfilled waste, but not to the extent of the pyrolysed products. These tests resulted in feasible recommendations for using the non-pyrolysed waste.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).
The project developed the glass fibre shredding/grinding system and upgraded the pyrolysis from laboratory scale to pilot scale as foreseen. Pyrolysis tests on the ground fibre succeeded as such but the pyrolysed fibres did not have sufficient structural characteristics. Furthermore, results from the pyrolysis on non-organic fibres and oil did not prove suitable for the foreseen reuses either. This was because the oil contained too many impurities, which prevented it from being processed in the normal oil refining process.The beneficiary then explored possibilities for using the recycled oil as a syngas ingredient - but rejected this option on economic grounds. The fibre component was also studied further but did not result in large practical tests.
In an attempt to identify more positive outcomes, the beneficiary arranged additional tests for using the shredded/ground (but non-pyrolysed) glass fibre as a construction material. This new use in the building industry contributes to the project objectives, to reduce the volume of the landfilled waste, but not to the extent of the pyrolysed products. These tests resulted in feasible recommendations for using the non-pyrolysed waste.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).
