The Engagement

of Waste Management Companies

in Plastic Upcycling

Nadine R. Sousa1, Diana S. Dias2, Helder F.C. Marques1, Telmo Machado1,

Joana Maia Dias2, Benedita Chaves1

1LIPOR 2 Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto

ISWA WORLD CONGRESS 2018

Nadine R. Sousa | nadine.sousa@lipor.pt | October 2018

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 LIPOR - Intermunicipal Waste Management of Greater Porto

LIPOR – Intermunicipal Waste Management of Greater Porto is

responsible for the management, recovery and treatment of the
Municipal Waste produced in its eight associated municipalities.

8 1.000.000 500.000 t
Municipalities Inhabitants Urban waste

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 Materials and Results and
THE CHALLENGE Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

PACKAGING PLASTICS NON-PACKAGING PLASTICS

Bulky items

Small
Heterogeneity
quantity

https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-plastic-bottles-802221/

Low No Dedicated
Dedicated commercial Management
value System
Management System

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 Materials and Results and
THE APPROACH Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

Reduce the
value chain

Voice of the Industry

Supply directly
Polymer
the Industry
Characterization

Increase the
competitiveness of Industrial Test
the segment

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 Materials and Results and
VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

Survey sent to 281 plastic transforming companies in Greater Porto, Portugal

Q1 Whether the company reincorporates its manufacturing plastic waste

Q2 Whether the company purchases recycled plastic

Q3 Whether the company was willing to experiment recycled plastic

Q4 Which parameters are important to assess the quality of the plastic raw material

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 Materials and Results and
POLYMER CHARACTERIZATION Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

PP PE

Garden Selection Crates Tubes Barrels Containers Bigboxes Pallets

Bulk analysis
• PP and PE separately 30 kg each
sample
Individual analysis
• Each category of PP and PE individually

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VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY Introduction
Materials and Results and
Conclusion
Methods Discussion

6% 2%
22%

50
answers 70%

Injection Extrusion
Injection & Extrusion Others

Q1 Does your company incorporate the

222 Purity manufacturing waste in the production process?

39 Density Q2 Does your company purchase recycled

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Melt flow index plastic?
Q4 Granulometry
Q3 Would your company be willing to
Flammability experiment recycled plastic?
Homogeneity
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 Materials and Results and
POLYMER CHARACTERIZATION Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

Table 1 - Density, purity of bulk PP and PE samples and MFR of PP (230 °C, 2.16 kg) and PE (190 °C, 2.16 kg). PP garden

Polymer Density (g/cm3) Purity (%) MFR (g/10 min)

PP 0.95 ± 0.01 > 81.2 18.0
PE 0.96 ± 0.00 > 91.2 6.0

Table 2 – MFR of each category of PP and PE, determined at 230 °C and 190 °C, respectively.
MFR PP PE
(g/10 min) PP selection
garden selection crates tubes barrels Containers big boxes pallets
2.16 kg load 26.3 24.8 6.1 0.6 no flow 4.3 3.6 2.6
5 kg load - - 19.2 2.1 0.5 - - -

Different properties

Higher PP
PP is injection contamination contamination is
PE contamination
molding grade in PP than in the category
in PE “selection”
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 Materials and Results and
INDUSTRIAL TEST - POLYPROPYLENE Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

PP garden Homogeneous material

PP selection Presence of contaminants

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 Materials and Results and
CONCLUSION Introduction
Methods Discussion
Conclusion

 The supply of good quality recycled plastic is paramount to gain the trust of plastic transforming
companies and thus increase the use of this material;

 Purity, density and melt flow index were indicated by the industry as the most relevant parameters
to characterize the plastic raw material;

 Given the heterogeneity of the bulky rigid plastics received at LIPOR, a strict quality control of the
materials will be required and PP selection will be the most challenging category to sort;

 The PE content in PP selection can be due to the mixture of the two polymers during the
manufacturing process and this is an important topic to deepen;

 The local cluster use of bulky rigid plastics and the direct supply to the industry will reduce
transportation costs and increase the competitiveness of this segment.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The present work resulted from a collaboration between LIPOR and Laboratory for Process
Engineering, Environment and Energy (LEPABE) of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of
Porto.

The authors would like to thank the company Ernesto São Simão, Lda. for testing the polypropylene and
grinding part of the waste plastic used in the present study.

The work supported by LEPABE was developed under the frame of Project
UID/EQU/00511/2013-LEPABE funded by the FCT/MEC through national funds and when
applicable co-funded by FEDER in the scope of the P2020 Partnership Agreement.

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 Thank you
for your attention

www.lipor.pt
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