SUSTAINABILITY OF PLASTICS: WTERT

WTERT@

BEC

Dr. Vijay G. HabbuReliance Industries Ltd.

18th January, 2018

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SUSTAINABILITY OF PLASTICS:

STRATEGY THOUGHTS FOR INDIA

.

PART A]

AN OVERVIEW OF THE REALITY

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Growth in Global Plastics Production

Source: The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the future of plastics, WEF.

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311 MT(2014)

15 MT(1964)

Global Flows of “Packaging” Plastics

Source: The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the future of plastics, WEF, 2016

4% Process Losses

8% Cascaded Recycling

2% Closed-loop recycling

98% Virgin Feedstock

40% Landfilled78 Million

Tonnes(Annual Prodution)

32% leakage

14% collected for Recycling

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1 Closed-loop recycling: Recycling of plastics into the same or similar-quality application

2 Cascaded recycling: Recycling of plastics into other, lower-value applications

Source: Project Mainstream analysis – for details please refer to the extended version of the report

available on the website of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

14% Incineration and/or Energy Recovery

Forecast of Plastics World in a Business-As-Usual Scenario

Source: The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the future of plastics, WEF, Davos, Jan 2016. 5

311 MT 1124 MT

1 : 5 > 1 : 1

6% 20%

1% 15%

PLASTICS’ SHARE OF CARBON BUDGET*

PLASTICS’ SHARE OF GLOBAL OIL

CONSUMPTION*

RATIO OF PLASTICS TO FISH IN THE OCEAN

(BY WEIGHT)

PLASTICS’ PRODUCTION

Marine Litter: Microplastics/Microfibres

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• Marine debris originating from plastics (mainly packaging)

• Increasing concern about microplastics in marine environments and on shorelines coming from:

- microbeads, pellets, abrasion…..,

- also fibres (PET, PA, PE, PP, acrylic, etc.)

• Originate mainly from washed clothes, waste fishing nets, ropes, nonwovens…

• Microplastics/microfibers can physical affect marine species or enter the food chain

Marine littering : endangering the natural denizens

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Changing economies

All stakeholders need to move from the wasteful linear economy towards Circular Economy8

PART B]

Strategies and Practices for Management of Plastics waste

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UN-DESA Report, 21st June 2017

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1. Industry-led or reduce demand

2. Green Engineering, Circular Economy

3. Reusable items, Sharing/Collaborative Economy

4. Context-sensitive Solid Waste management Infrastructure (Collect, Capture, Contain)

5. Litter Capture and Clean-up

Mitigation Strategies

Jambeck, J.R., et al. , Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean,

Science, (2015) 347, p. 768-771.

The discussion at WEF, Davos, 27th Jan 2016

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Plastics Recycling : Options for value recovery

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PLASTICS: Production, Waste & Waste treatment - EU, 2011

• Plastics production in the EU27, Norway and Switzerland in 2011

Vs

• Amount of post-consumer wasteof plastics

Vs

• Share of different waste-management modes

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ReduceRecycle

ReuseRecover

Let us Learn the “5Rs” in Plastics Usage …

Redesign

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Sustainability pillar Stakeholder Involved

REDUCE Industry Govt

REUSE Industry Govt Citizens & NGOs

RETRIEVE Industry Govt Citizens & NGOs R&D

· RECYCLE Industry Govt R&D

· RECOVER Industry Govt R&D

REDESIGN Govt R&D

Sustainability assurance : Overview

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RETRIEVE• Product design

(size, shape, thickness, identification)

RECYCLE-CASCADE• Product chemistry, especially for multicomponent plastics

RECYCLE-CLOSED LOOP• Product chemistry, especially for multicomponent plastics

RECOVER• Develop platforms for bio-fuels, bio-refineries • Develop technologies for benign incineration

MATERIAL RECOVERY

REDESIGN• Develop manufacturing technologies that integrate Product design & product chemistry to allow the 4Rs • Develop newer routes to making municipal dumps benign (e.g. enzymes) • Develop newer routes to making marine leaks benign (e.g. bacteria)

GENERAL• Develop newer routes to reducing stress on landfills

Sustainability assurance : Role of R&D institutes

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Strategies to transform Global Plastic PackagingDifferent areas of Innovation for Sustainability

Raw MaterialAcquisition

Ma terialProcessing

Manufacture& Assembly

Use &Service

Re tirement& Recovery

TreatmentDisposal

open-looprecycle

reuse

remanufacture

closed-loop recycle

M, E

W W W W W

M, E M, E M, E M, EM, E

W

M, E = Material and Energy inputs to process and distributionW = Waste (gas, liquid, or solid) output from product, process, or distribution

Material flow of product component

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LCA, an overall indicator of the eco-footprint

LCA = Materials+Energy+Water+Land usage vs Emissions+Wastage+Hazards

LCA : Calculation of Environmental Impact factors

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1. Abiotic Depletion (ADP, Fossil and elements)

2. Human Toxicity (HTP) is mainly concerned with the Human Health aspect.

3. Global Warming Potential (GWP 100a including and excluding biogenic carbon)

4. Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Potential (SODP 40a)

5. Acidification Potential (AP)

6. Fresh Water Aquatic Eco Toxicity Potential (FAETP)

7. Eutrophication Potential (EP)

8. Marine Eco Toxicity Potential (MAETP)

9. Ozone Layer Depletion Potential (ODP)

10. Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP)

11. Terrestrial Eco Toxicity Potential (TAETP 100a) indicates the environmental burdens impact values.

ISO-14040 NEEDS TO BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE POSITIVE IMPACTS SUCH AS:

1. Sustainability Potential – Energy Recovery

2. Sustainability Potential – Material Recovery

PART C]

A PERSPECTIVE FOR INDIA

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Plastics Recycling Approaches

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U.S. - EPA GoI - CPCB1° Primary recyclingPre-consumer industrial scrapTo form new packaging

Primary recyclingProcessing into products with similar characteristics to original product

2° Secondary recyclingPost-consumerPhysical reprocessing (grinding & melting)

Reformation

Secondary recyclingProcessing into products with different characteristics to original product

3° Tertiary recyclingPost-consumerChemical recycling to isolate componentsReprocessed for use in manufacture

Tertiary recyclingProduction of basic chemicals and fuels

Quaternary recyclingRetrieval of energy by burning/incineration

Recycling of Plastics - Global Regulations

EU

• EU 282/2008

• On recycled plastic materials and articles intended for food contact

• Regulation of 27 March 2008

USA

• USFDA

• Guidance for Industry: Use of Recycled Plastics in Food Packaging: Chemistry Considerations

• Aug, 2006

JAPAN

• Recycling of Plastics Container & Packaging Recycling Law, 1995

• Consolidated (2006-06-15)

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Recycling of Plastics, BIS - PCD 12:7

Indian Standards• IS 14534

‘Guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastics waste’

• IS 14535

‘Recycled plastics for the manufacturing of products –Designation’

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Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016

MoE, F and CC

• Registration• EPR• Responsibilities of the ULB• Street vendors• Segregation & recycling as per

IS 14534:1998• Annual Reports by all

organized stakeholders

Recycling of Plastics - Indian Regulations

Recycling of Plastic Packaging : the India story

• Recycling of plastics - is a prime area for innovation and sustainability

• In India, ~3500 organized and ~4000 unorganized plastic recycling units.

• Most plastics (PET, PE, PVC, PP, PS) are recycled via mechanical route

• Recycling of plastics ~3.6 MnTPA, provides employment to ~ 1.6 million people (0.6 million directly, 1 million indirectly)

Sustainability Best Practices

Municipal Solid Waste – Indian cities

60,000 MT/day in 300 class I cities

• Wet compostable waste 38%

• Inert waste 49%

• Paper & Paperboard waste 6%

• Plastics waste 4%

25Paving our way towards a ‘Cleaner and Greener’ nation

PET – Sustainable Solutions for Waste Management

Recycled Polyester

Fibre (r-PSF)

Recycled Yarn r- PET T-shirtPET bottle scrap

Value chain for PET recycling already exists and country has enough capacity for recycling of PET

26PET gets converted into polyester textiles - a sterling ambassador of the circular economy

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Plastics in Roads• The plastic can be shredded to the right size and

incorporated right into the tar.• The plastic melts and lends its qualities to the road. • The entire process is much more eco-friendly than plastic

being recycled since no toxic fumes are vented.

Plastone Blocks• Made from a mixture of waste plastic and stones/granite

waste/ceramic waste• Withstands more pressure and resist water percolation• Many advantages over conventional blocks of cement

Prof. R. Vasudevan,

Dean, Department of Chemistry,

Thiagarajar College of Engineering.

Plastics Waste in Road-making: The Indian Story

The “Plastic Man” of India

GoI has now mandated the use of 20% plastics-waste in road construction

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CHALLENGES1) Need for smaller packages/affordable servings

• sachets, pouches for shampoos, gutkhas, etc.2) Lack of civic sense

• Littering3) Pilferage of public conveniences

Probably nowhere else in the world

Peculiarities in India

So, India will have to find its own solutions for waste management

POSITIVES1) The entrenched habit of revalorizing (earning-out, reusing)

(e.g. newspapers, old clothes ,,,, anything)

Different types of packaging material

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Example Retrievability Recyclability Availability Allowed?

RIGID PACKAGING

Single PlasticPET water bottles,

Saline bottles BIS, FSSAI, IP, PWM, WHO

Multi-component(Mix of paper, plastic, metal)

Tetrapak Phase-out @

PWM

Non-Plastic Glass BIS

FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

Single Plastic (thick)>50 micron

Blood Bags, Hi-quality Carry Bags PWM

Single Plastic (thin)<50 micron

Carry bags Ban @ PWM

Multicomponent &Multilayer

Gutkha pouches, Shampoo sachets

Phase-out @ PWM

Sustainability innovations – utilizing the USPs of Polymers

Unique Tools to design properties in

polymers:

• Transition temperatures

• Morphology

• Rheology

• Molecular weight

Light-weighting, strength, etc.

e.g. learn from UHMWPE, DUHMWPE

Non-chemical routes

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Development of new features

• Bio-degradable

• Oxo-degradable

• Bio-compostable

• Enzyme-interacting

Chemical routes

Novel collection methods

• At-source

collection/segregation

methodologies

Bacterium that eats PETIdeonella sakaiensis

201-F6, Kyoto Univ,

11 May 2016

Y. Kimura, K. Oda, et al.

- Science 351, 1196-1199 (2016)

- Science 353, 759-c (2016)

Material Management

Remedies cannot come overnight, but journey for remedies should begin

Need to have a comprehensive understanding of Sustainability issues• Biopolymers (oil-depletion vs land blocking)

• Oxodegradation (formation of micro-plastics)

• Biodegradability (disintegration vs elemental transformation)

• Biocompositing (land blocking)

else, will merely be shifting the problem

Collaborative efforts needed• industry, social scientists, product designers, microbiologists

Research should not be “what can be done” but it should be “what needs to be done”

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Polymer R&D and Academicians must lead

Let us move from ‘individual poles of excellence’ to “joining the grid for Sustainability”

PART D]

EPILOGUE

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India’s Population Growth Projections

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Road blocks to growth of Polymer industry

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PILs in various states • High courts • Supreme Courts• NGT• 21 cases, primarily filed by NGOs

Governmental restrictions/bans • Maharashtra (PET bottles for liquor packaging)• Chhattisgarh (short-life PVC)• Karnataka (Poly bags)• Uttarakhand (ban on plastic bottles in the hills)

Ignorance about polymers/plastics allows fears to grow

Ill-informed premises• Confusion between various plastics• Leaching/Toxicity• Ignorance on recycling• Urge for “bans”

Genuine issues:• Littering-related• Micro-plastics• Recycling of Multi-component materials• Quick fix solutions (e.g. oxo-degradable

India’s share in the Global Economy

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Materials of convenience should not become materials of nuisance

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• Growing population, growing consumption needs to be matched with growing responsibility

New-age materials will need new discipline/governance

Used-material is not waste – it is a raw material

Societal Outlook should be :

R&D / Academicians/Environmentalists MUST LEAD to equilibriate

37Can there be a better way to demonstrate the utility of PET/Plastic packaging?

THANK YOU

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