Plastic Wastes

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International Environmental Technology Centre

PROJECT CONVERTING WASTE PLASTIC INTO FUEL
Background
The worlds production of plastic materials has been increasing over the past 20 years at a rate of nearly 5% per annum. In 2010 alone, 265 million tonnes of plastics were produced, 15 million more than the previous year. This means that on the one hand more resources are being used to meet demand but also more plastics waste is being generated. In developing countries, due to economic growth as well as changes in consumption and production patterns, the increase in use of plastics has been higher than the world average and waste plastics are becoming a major waste stream. Waste plastics are often found to be as litter across cities; they are burned, buried or disposed of in open dumps along with other waste. Due to the properties of the plastics, the high quantities being generated and the lack of efficient end-of-life management, in many developing countries plastics are now posing serious threats to the environment and human health. Even in the best cases when plastics are disposed of in sanitary landfills, they occupy large spaces and all these practices ignored the fact that waste plastics can be converted into a useful resource.
Needs to be addressed
The negative impacts of waste plastics could be addressed or minimized by recognizing
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that waste plastics have a great potential for resource conservation when converted into a valuable resource Keeping this in mind IETC started in 2009, with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, a three-year project on the conversion of waste plastics into fuel. The project, implemented in the Philippines and Thailand aimed to: Strengthen the local capacity for data collection and analysis to develop baseline scenarios for cities/countries. Build local capacity for identification of appropriate technologies for the conversion. Assess their potential for resource conservation and potential for GHG reduction. Assess their feasibility with regards to local socio-economic and environmental characteristics.
Phases of the project and activities

The project was designed in three stages of one years duration each. Under each phase the following activities were undertaken: Phase I Scoping phase (2009 - 2010) Development of Guidelines for Assessment (quantification and characterisation of waste plastics). Development of compendium of technologies on converting waste plastics into a resource. Meeting of international experts in Osaka, Japan. Building capacity in selected countries using the guidelines. Baseline studies with regards to waste in general and plastics in particular in six cities in three countries. Selection of the implementation cities. Consult all baseline studies and activity reports compiled as part of the phase I of the project. Phase II Design phase (2010 - 2011) Detailed waste plastic quantification and characterisation on the selected cities. Technology assessment according to local conditions.
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National training to raise awareness on the environmentally sound technologies for converting waste plastic into fuel. Design of the pilot project including a techno feasibility study and policy interventions required to ensure success. Phase III Implementation phase (2011 - 2012) Workshop on waste plastics management in developing countries in March 2011 in Tsukuba, Japan. Implementation of the pilot projects and monitoring of operations and maintenance. Quality control of the product and feedback into the process. Compilation of lessons learned from the projects. Dissemination workshop to share the projects' results and lessons learned. The worlds annual production of plastic materials has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years at a rate of nearly 5% production growth. In 2010, 265 million tonnes were produced, 6% (15 million) more than the previous year and consumption patterns show that within developing countries the increase of plastic consumption has been higher that the world average due to rapid urbanisation and economic development. This trend implies not only an increase in needed resources but higher quantities of plastic waste being generated. In Asia and the Pacific region, plastic consumption has increased much more than the world average due to rapid urbanization and economic development. The consumerism has picked up sharply resulting in a rapid increase in plastic waste generation levels. Most of the plastic waste generation is in cities. After food waste and paper waste, plastic waste is the major constituent of municipal waste and industrial waste in cities. Even the cities with low economic growth have started producing more plastic waste due to plastic packaging, plastic shopping bags, PET bottles and other goods/appliances using plastic as the major component (e.g. Dhaka produces about 140 tons of plastic waste every day). Figure 1 and 2 illustrate these findings.
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ESP: Spain, GRC: Greece, HUN: Hungary, NDL: Netherlands, JPN: Japan FRA: France, USA: United States of America
Figure 1: Increased Plastic Percentage within the Municipal Waste in selected OECD Countries
Figure 2: Plastic Waste Generation in 7 OECD Countries and in 7 Asian Cities Due to the properties of the plastics, their high quantities being generated and the lack of efficient end of life management, in many developing countries plastics are now posing serious threats to the environment. Large amounts of waste plastics can be found as litter, spread within the cities, or are subject to treatments such as being burned, buried or open dumped; having all of these options detrimental consequences. Littered plastics, not only spoil the landscape but they block the sewage systems/drains, which contributes to floods, and also represent potential threats to wildlife when plastics are eaten as if they were food. On the other hand, the practice of burning plastics, along with other waste, releases toxic pollutants, which affects the
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-- International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) -- United Nations Environment Programme -...

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Phases of the project and activities

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