Training module for the assessment of plastic waste

Table of Contents Chapter 2: Conducting “Waste Assessment- Chapter 3: Waste Plastics Management System / Practices 11 Chapter 4: Waste management choices & technology options 16... Pur

TRAINING MODULE

for the ASSESSMENT OF PLASTIC WASTE

Submitted to

United Nations Environmental Programme

Division of Technology, Industry and Economics International Environmental Technology Centre

Osaka/Shiga

Table of Contents

Chapter 2: Conducting “Waste Assessment-

Chapter 3: Waste Plastics Management System / Practices 11

Chapter 4: Waste management choices & technology options 16

Chapter 1

Introduction

What Are Plastics?

All plastics are polymers mostly containing carbon and hydrogen and few other elements like chlorine, nitrogen etc polymers are made up of small molecules called as monomers which combine and form single large molecule called polymer

When this long chain of monomers breaks at certain points or when lower molecular weight fractions are formed this is termed as degradation of polymer This is reverse of polymerization If such scission of bonds occurs randomly it is called as ‘Random De-Polymerization’

Plastics have occupied every spectrum of our life because they are

Classification/Characterization of Plastic Waste:

Various types of commonly available plastics are classified on the basis of the polymer from which they are made All type of plastics is mainly divided into these 7 types

1 PET (polyethylene terephthalate): plastic soft drink and water bottles, beer bottles, mouthwash bottles, salad dressing containers, boil-in food pouches, processed meat packages

2 HDPE (high density polyethylene): milk bottles, detergent bottles, oil bottles, toys, plastic bags

3 PVC (polyvinyl chloride): food wrap, vegetable oil bottles, blister packaging

4 .LDPE (low density polyethylene): bread bags, frozen food bags, squeezable bottles, fiber, tote bags, bottles, clothing, furniture, carpet, shrink-wraps, garment bags

5 PP (polypropylene): margarine and yogurt containers, caps for containers, wrapping to replace cellophane

6 PS (polystyrene): egg cartons, fast food trays, disposable plastic silverware

7 Other: This code indicates that the item is made with a resin other than the six listed above, or a combination of different resins

Recycle Potential of Various Type of Plastics

• Plastics Easy To Recycle:

The easiest and most common plastics to recycle are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) and are assigned the number 1 Examples include soda and water bottles, medicine containers, and many other common consumer product containers Once it has been processed by a recycling facility, PETE can become fiberfill for winter coats, sleeping bags and life jackets It can also be used to make bean bags, rope, car bumpers, tennis ball felt, combs, cassette tapes, sails for boats, furniture and, of course, other plastic bottles

Number 2 is reserved for high-density polyethylene plastics These include heavier containers that hold laundry detergents and bleaches as well as milk, shampoo and motor oil Plastic labeled with the number 2 is often recycled into toys, piping, plastic lumber and rope Like plastic designated number 1, it is widely accepted at recycling centers

Number 6 goes on polystyrene (Styrofoam) items such as coffee cups, disposable cutlery, meat trays, packing “peanuts” and insulation It is widely accepted because it can

be reprocessed into many items, including cassette tapes and rigid foam insulation

• Plastics Less Commonly Recycled:

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) commonly used in plastic pipes, shower curtains, medical tubing, vinyl dashboards, and even some baby bottle nipples, gets number 3 Like numbers 4 (wrapping films, grocery and sandwich bags, and other containers made of low-density polyethylene) and 5 (polypropylene containers used in Tupperware, among other products), few municipal recycling centers will accept it due to its very low rate of recyclability

• Hardest Plastic To Recycle:

Last, but far from least, are items crafted from various combinations of the aforementioned plastics or from unique plastic formulations not commonly used Usually imprinted with a number 7 or nothing at all, these plastics are the most difficult to recycle and, as such, are seldom collected or recycled More ambitious consumers can feel free

to return such items to the product manufacturers to avoid contributing to the local waste stream, and instead put the burden on the makers to recycle or dispose of the items properly

The training module aims to build capacities of stakeholders like municipal corporation, NGOs, etc in assessment of plastic waste generated in their cities and a decision making tool for better and efficient management

Purpose of Waste Assessment

The waste assessment is essential to design and plan the waste management strategy:

The data on current and future trends of waste plastics is the basic requirement to develop a viable system for converting waste plastics into a resource (energy or useful material) In this regard, data on different waste streams will be analyzed to develop the current and projected scenario for:

• Developing a system for converting waste plastics ;

• Generating comprehensive information on the quantity and type of recyclable waste plastics and recoverable materials/energy to prioritize the recovery opportunities;

• Developing baseline for continued long-term measurement of system performance;

• Generating information on the different sub-streams of waste plastics to design, implement and monitor an effective and efficient system for collection, transportation, recycling, treatment, recovery, and disposal of various sub-streams of waste plastics; and

• Providing comparison of waste plastics composition and waste plastics diversion accomplishments for continuing improvements in overall integrated solid waste management system based on 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) approach

Determining the Approach

The approach for waste assessment is to identify, assess and analyse the plastic waste generation patterns from different waste streams and design an efficient waste management plan

The key to any efficient management system and practices are accurate assessment and future estimations of data This training module plans to provide methodologies for assessment of waste plastics generated in a city and possible options for management

Setting the boundaries

The first step towards any assessment is determining and setting the boundaries for assessment This includes the clear definition and demarcation of geo-political and administrative boundaries based on the sectors and/or waste generators

1 Geographical Size of the Area and Zoning

A map is required from local authorities that identify the geographical and administrative boundaries with geographical area and land zone planning

2 Population size and Growth

Time series data of the population and future projections are required The distribution of population among various zones will also be needed to draw out future estimations of waste generation

3 Socio-Economic Patterns

The information on socioeconomic patterns is required to assess their influence over the current and future waste plastics generation levels and trends For example, there may be strong correlation with the economic growth and generation of waste in developing countries The rate of urbanization and industrialization may also have a strong influence on the waste generation Furthermore, these trends may have stronger correlation with generation of waste plastics as proportion of waste plastics within municipal and industrial waste is rapidly increasing The other possible socio-economic patterns may include gifts and plastic packaging, goods predominately made of plastic instead of other materials, refrigeration of foods wrapped in plastics, shopping malls providing plastic bags, etc

4 Size and Number of Industries and Commercial Undertakings

The information on the size and number of industries and other commercial undertakings, according to their type or clusters as per industrial classification is required to formulate the

data collection strategies, as various type clusters may generate specific types and quantity

of waste plastics

5 Administrative Boundaries and Responsibilities

The information on the administrative roles of various departments and their jurisdiction will

be required as baseline information on the institutional arrangements This information will also cover the responsibilities of various actors (government, industry, community) in collection, transportation, treatment, recycling, and disposal of different types of waste streams This would help in assessing the institutional gaps that need to be filled in to effectively manage waste plastics that is generate, transported to disposal site, and recycled

Information Required

For a particular city, the information could be collected by utilizing the following format:

I Maps from local authorities identifying the geographical and administrative boundaries where waste plastics are generated collected, transported, treated, recycled and disposed If any of these activities falls outside the city boundaries, then that should be clearly indicated

II Population size and growth: Time-series data with future projections, distribution

of population among various zones, number of single-family and multi-family buildings and average size of inhabitants This would help to make projections in

to future for waste plastics generation

III Size and number of industries and commercial undertakings, which generate waste plastics, as per national or local classification

IV Regulations, direct and indirect, addressing waste plastics

V List of material types with reference to various types of waste plastics Usually waste plastics could be classified in two forms (soft or film and rigid plastic), but if there is a need, based on the targets for waste plastics recycling, then further classification, as shown in next chapter, could be carried out

VI Primary data on waste plastics and its proportion in overall waste

Categorisation of Solid waste

Plastic waste is an important component in all streams of waste It has become increasingly important because of steady rise in its generation patterns over the last few years To assist the process of assessment, waste generated in a city can be divided into sectors based on source of generation The key sectors are listed below:

1 Residential Waste

Residential waste refers to solid waste generated by households This waste may contain organic waste (for example from kitchen and gardens), recyclable waste (for example plastics, paper, cans, etc.), non-recyclable waste (that has no recycling value), and hazardous waste (batteries, some oils, etc.) Some of the waste plastics are retained by the households for reuse or selling those to recyclers This information at generation source is vital to estimate the overall quantity and quality of waste plastics for designing a recycling facility

2 Commercial Waste

On the similar lines with the assessment of waste plastics in residential waste, the commercial entities such as shopping malls, markets, offices etc also generate substantial waste plastics Some of the waste plastics are retained by the individual entities for reuse or selling those to recyclers This information at generation source is vital to estimate the overall quantity and quality of waste plastics for designing a recycling facility

3 Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste

In India, C&D waste may not contain substantial portion of waste plastics However, this could be checked at local level to confirm if C&D waste also contains waste plastics which are being either recycled or disposed at landfill

4 Industrial waste

Industrial waste can be both hazardous and non-hazardous Usually, industrial waste is not considered as municipal waste; however, in some places, non-hazardous waste including waste plastics is disposed of at municipal disposal facilities Some or all of the waste plastics generated by industries may be directly sold to recyclers Hence this information would be useful for designing a recycling activity in the city

5 WEEE/E-waste

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) or E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world In developing countries like China and India, though annual generation per capita is less than 1 kg, it is growing at an exponential pace in these countries Composition of WEEE/ E-waste is very diverse and differs in products across different categories It contains more than 1000 different substances, which fall under

“hazardous” and “hazardous” categories Broadly, it consists of ferrous (50%) and ferrous metals (13%), plastics (21%) and other constitutes like glass, wood & plywood, concrete and ceramics, rubber etc Usually, most of the plastic components from E-waste are

non-dismantled and sold to recyclers This information would be vital to assess the overall quantity and quality of waste plastics available within a city

However, in India, since segregation of waste is not practised at any stage of waste generation and primary collection, it can be difficult to differentiate the waste into the above categories Keeping this in mind, the waste generated should be divided into one or two prominent streams based on quantum of waste generated by each stream like residential or commercial For example, the generated waste can be categorised into residential or commercial based on location of collection centres, assuming that the major waste deposited

at collection centres is from one type of source

Plastic Waste Quantification & Characterisation

Plastic waste quantification and characterisation will be conducted through sample surveys at bot collection points and dumpsite/landfill

Sample size determination

The sample size should be determined based on two parameters: socio-economic composition of the society and adequate geographical representation

Sample survey:

The sample survey has to be designed keeping in mind the plastic waste generation patterns of the city Since, in most of the Indian cities, solid waste generated from different streams like residential, commercial, industrial, etc is dumped at common collection points, these collection points serve as a good point for conducting the survey However, survey can be conducted at different depending on sources of plastic waste generation

Collection Point Survey

Both designated and informal collection points were identified in key residential and commercial areas for baseline survey The sample sites were selected from across the geographical spread

of the cities to include adequate representation of localities with different demographic and economic profile

Number of samples: n

Total weight of samples: a kg

Total weight of Plastic: b kg

Therefore, percentage plastic content = Total weight of Plastic × 100

Dumpsite / Landfill site Survey

Primary surveys carried out at landfill site provide a fair idea of the different types of waste being generated in each city and the composition of the waste (with particular reference to the contribution of plastics) It also allows comparison between the waste compositions at collection and disposal sites, thereby providing insight into the retrieval of materials of value by the informal sector

The landfill site survey also helped in estimating the total quantity of waste generated in each city

on the basis of the numbers and capacities of disposal vehicles entering the landfill each day Apparatus needed:

While conducting the sample surveys, adequate measures should be taken while handling the waste, to avoid contamination

Regular examination of this data can help in quantifying the solid waste generated in the city However, sample estimations for quantifying amount of plastic waste should be done in such a case

Waste Sort

Waste sorting of solid waste is done to analyse the types of plastic waste generated Waste sorting should be done at source of generation of waste stream like residential, commercial, industrial, etc to understand the plastic waste generation in a city

At Generation: This study method produces waste composition data that can be correlated to

specific types of waste generators, such as specific categories of business or industry, multifamily buildings, or single-family residences in specific neighborhoods Waste samples are obtained at

the location where they were generated – e.g., from the dumpsters or disposal areas of the business or building in question

At Disposal Facility: This method produces the most accurate waste characterization data, and

it is especially suitable for waste that is typically composed of many small pieces of numerous materials Generally, an entire vehicle-load of waste is identified for sampling, but only a portion

of the load is pulled out for actual sorting This method is nearly essential for thorough characterization of residential or commercial waste It is less useful in characterizing waste that typically consists of large piece of material, such as some loads of construction and demolition waste Because the method is employed at the disposal facility, it is of little use in correlating waste composition with specific types of waste generators, such as particular types of business

Waste projections

The future projections for solid waste generation can be estimated keeping in mind the growth in population only The other influencing factors like change in waste consumption patterns should also been considered

Waste generated – N MT/day

Per capita generation = total waste generated

Population

Projected generation of Plastic:

Projected population = B lakhs

Per capita generation = A gm/capita/day

Total Waste generated = Projected population x Per capita generation

= B × 100000 × A kg × 1000