A study has examined what quality feedstocks should be for the pyrolysis of plastic waste.
 

Commissioned by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEWP), the British consulting firm Eunomia Research & Consulting developed the "Feedstock Quality Guidelines for Pyrolysis of Plastic Waste." According to the report, the greatest potential for pyrolysis of polyolefins is in flexible films, particularly post-consumer waste, which would be rarely processed in mechanical recycling. The majority of European recyclers focus on PE films from post-consumer and post-industrial sources, according to the study, as these packaging materials are generally clean, homogeneous and in large formats. Flexible films as input material for pyrolysis should ideally consist of about 85 percent polyethylene and polypropylene, with a total "impurity level" not exceeding 15 percent, at a moisture content of about seven percent, according to Eunomia's study. For foreign plastics or other materials, the study recommends maximum levels such as a maximum of one percent PVC / PVDC or a maximum of five percent PET / EVOH / polyamides.
 

Further information: Alliance to End Plastic Waste
 

Sources:

• euwid-recycling.de (Nov. 28, .2022)
• Kunststoff Information (Nov. 25, 2022)
• Photo: Pixelio, Dieter Schütz (symbol image)