PFA — A component in building materials produced from the german plastic packaging waste stream

Abstract

Since September 1993, Dirk European Plastics Ltd (DEP) has imported mixed waste German plastics of various types for use in the manufacture of useable products such as fencing and posts, bollards, profiles, finger posts, etc. It was recognised at an early stage that the sheer volume of the waste plastics component and the Regulations imposed by the German Authorities for disposal of this fraction would dictate the need to investigate and implement processes for recycling into useable products. Furthermore, the market for sale of such products in Germany is limited and a surplus of waste mixed plastic exists for export to other countries. The bulk of these materials now go to China and various European countries including the United Kingdom through DEP's sole distributorship. There has also been an evolutionary process concerning the form in which the German Authorities will permit export. Initially, baled materials could be shipped, separated and processed by the recycler into a useable granulated or agglomerated form. All collected plastics are now, however, separated and processed by a limited number of German companies approved by a quango dealing with the packaging waste stream for the country, i.e. the Duales System Deutschland (DSD), and regulated by the Authority specialising in plastics waste, i.e. Deutsche Kunstoffrecycling (DKR). These approved companies separate the three main polymer fractions in the municipal waste stream, flake, wash and sell the materials to manufacturers of plastic products requiring “pure” raw materials. The companies are also responsible for the so-called “end fraction” or waste element which cannot otherwise be used to make products in the conventional sense. Utilisation of this fraction with PFA has resulted in the formation of a useable composite. First, this paper gives a brief review of plastics processing in Germany and then presents the results of a preliminary investigation into engineering and performance properties of the composite, as performed by the Civil Engineering Material Unit, University of Leeds, U.K.