AMRC Material Quality Workshop

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(No Transcript)
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Quality issues RPET
AMRC Material Quality Workshop Oakville,
Ontario October 30, 2007 Jennifer Dubé Plastrec
Inc. Shawn R Somerday Klöckner Pentaplast
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Quality Issues - RPET

• Table of Contents
• What is RPET?
• Process Overview
• Sorting / grinding
• Washing and extrusion
• Quality issues (what do we see)
• Financial impact

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What is RPET?

• RPET is a polymer resin derived from recycled PET
  plastic bottles
• Flake and pellet
• RPET is an important raw material for many
  industrial products
• Non-beverage containers
• Beverage bottles
• Food-contact and general thermoformed sheet
• Strapping
• Fibre (cloth)
• Producers of products made from RPET resin (our
  customers) demand consistent, high-quality
  material
• RPET is no longer viewed as a second-class
  material

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Process Overview
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PET Recycling
PET bottles
Separation of contaminant materials
Separation of bottles into different colors
(green, blue, clear)
Grinding of bottles into flakes of different
colors
Film extrusion
Pelletizing
Washing
OR
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Sorting and Grinding
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What do we find?
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Make up of bale

• Average bale make-up, Ontario material, 2007
• Average bale load 18,700 kg 41,000 lb
• Clear bottles 58
• Green bottles 12
• Bale yield, average 70
• Aluminum 2
• Metal 1
• Other plastics 12
• Partially full bottles 2
• Trash 11
• Humidity 2

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Make up of bale

• Average bale make-up, Ontario material, 2007
• Average bale load 18,690 kg
• Clear bottles 58
• Green bottles 12
• Bale yield, average 70
• Aluminum 2
• Metal 1
• Other plastics 12
• Partially full bottles 2
• Trash 11
• Humidity 2

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What is 12 Other Plastics?

• Rejects from the color/plastic bottle sorter
• Sample audit revealed
• Non-PET and opaque bottles 35 (4 of total
  bale)
• Amber PET bottles 15 (2 of total bale)
• Thermoformed trays 35 (4 of total bale)
• Clear PET bottles (liquor, multilayer, dirty)
  10 (1 of total bale)
• Paper and trash (labels, etc.) 5 (1 of total
  bale)

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Non-PET bottles (4 of bale)
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Opaque bottles
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Amber PET bottles (2 of bale)
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Trays (4 of bale)
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Trays (4 of bale)
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What is 11 Trash?

• Rejects from the disc screens
• Sample audit revealed
• Paper, cardboard shrink wrap 68 (8 of total
  bale)
• Small and broken PET bottles 22 (3 of total
  bale)
• Caps and rings 7 (1 of total bale)
• Metal / aluminium 2 (0 of total bale)

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Paper and cardboard (8 of bale)
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Small and broken PET bottles (3 of bale)
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Bale yield trend
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Financial impact
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Financial impact

• Bale quality directly determines amount of good
  material recovered
• Less good material higher price per pound of
  good material
• Low bale quality reduces processing rate
• Higher fixed costs (labor) per pound of good
  material
• Bale quality has a direct financial impact on
  material recovered
• There is a point at which poor quality material
  is no longer financially attractive
• Conversely, higher quality has a higher economic
  value
• Today, 48 of reclaimed PET in North America (US
  and Canada) was exported to China
• Canadian reclaimers imported 49 million lb from
  the U.S.
• This is not sustainable over the long run

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Thank you