Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Environmental Action Germany) - Infobroschüre "Innovationen in der Wärmedämmung"

Die DUH zeigt in ihrer neuen Informationsbroschüre zu ihren „Politischen Handlungsempfehlungen - Wärmedämmung“ die Vielfalt an nachhaltigen und innovativen Dämmstoffen auf.

In einem Artikel mit dem o.g. Titel weisen sie darauf hin, dass erstmals auch mit dem heute verbotenen Flammschutzmittel HBCD behandelte Polystyrol-Dämmstoffe mit dem CreaSolv^® Prozess durch Auflösen in der PolyStyreneLoop-Demonstrationsanlage in Terneuzen/NL vom HBCD befreit werden können, sodass man das Polystyrol wieder für neue EPS/XPS Dämmplatten verwenden kann.

Das ifeu - Institut für Energie und Umweltforschung Heidelberg kam in seiner Ökobilanzstudie (2019) bereits zum Ergebnis, dass das CreaSolv^® Verfahren ähnlich gut wie eine Regranulierung abschneidet. Allerdings kann man HBCD-belastetes EPS oder XPS nicht mechanisch recyceln, womit der CreaSolv^® Prozess die beste Ökobilanz von 6 Entsorgungsoptionen für beide Dämmstoffe bietet.

Artikel lesen (PDF)

DUH Infobroschüre – Innovationen in der Wärmedämmung:   Link 

DUH Politische Handlungsempfehlungen "Wärmedämmung":   Link

ifeu (2019) - "Ganzheitliche Bewertung von verschiedenen Dämmstoffalternativen" (siehe 5.1.1. Entsorgungsoptionen für EPS-Platten und 5.1.2 für XPS-Platten inkl. CreaSolv^® Prozess ab Seite 106):    Link

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Technologien des werkstofflichen Recyclings in der Kreislaufwirtschaft für Kunststoff – eine kritische Betrachtung

Pressemitteilung - Konsens Public Relations

Die Autoren beschreiben den Status quo des Kunststoff-Recyclings und bewerten die verfügbaren Verfahren hinsichtlich ihrer Schwächen, Stärken und Umweltverträglichkeit. Dabei legen Sie besonderen Wert auf die Definition und Positionierung des lösemittelbasierten Recyclings als physikalisches Verfahren, das die Lücke zwischen dem mechanischen und chemischen Recycling schließt. Speziell gehen sie auf den technisch und praktisch bewährten CreaSolv^® Prozess ein, der unter anderem zur Aufbereitung von schadstoffbelasteten Kunststoffen aus Anwendungen am Bau, in Verpackungen, Elektrik und Elektronik usw. einen neuen Lösungsweg als Alternative zur Verbrennung bietet. Sie benennen Schwachpunkte hinsichtlich unpräziser, zu wenig differenzierter Definitionen in bestehenden Abfall-Richtlinien und formulieren darauf basierend Empfehlungen für das Erstellen spezifischer Richtlinien, die endlich auch den Kunststoffen den Weg zu einer echten Kreislaufwirtschaft ebnen könnten.

Autoren:

• Dr. Gerald Altnau - CreaCycle GmbH
• Dipl.-Ing. Joerg Hamann - EPC Engineering & Technologies GmbH
• Dipl.-Ing. José M. Dias Fonseca - LOEMI GmbH

Positionspapier lesen (PDF)      

Zur Pressemitteilung -> 

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veröffentlicht in Kunststoffe 6/2020 - Carl Hanser Verlag, München

Physikalisches und chemisches Kunststoffrecycling im Vergleich.

Beim Recycling von Kunststoffen wird heute in der Regel nur zwischen mechanischem und chemischem Recycling unterschieden. Diese Sichtweise vernachlässigt, dass sich beide Verfahren hauptsächlich darin unterscheiden, ob physikalische oder chemische Reaktionen ablaufen.

Eine genaue Differenzierung ist aber sehr wichtig, um einerseits Möglichkeiten, sowie Grenzen der Verfahren auszuloten und andererseits zu beurteilen, ob es sich überhaupt um Kunststoff-Recycling oder aber um Rückgewinnung von Rohstoffen handelt.

Autoren:   

• Dr. Martin Schlummer, Tanja Fell, und Dr. Andreas Mäurer vom Fraunhofer Institut für Verfahrenstechnilk und Verpacking IVV in Freising.
• Dr. Gerald Altnau – CreaCycle GmbH

Artikel lesen (PDF)

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published on Linkedin

Chemical Recycling is an “Oxymoron” because it is a scientific fact that chemical reactions change the composition of polymers and fulfil the definition for “recovery” of the Waste Directive. The same is the case for Feedstock Recycling.
Mechanical recycling and solvent-based purification (dissolution) belong both to the category Physical Recycling and both enable the “re-use” of the polymer without down-cycling to raw-materials or feedstock (e.g. fuel, syngas, hydrocarbons) or building blocks of polymers, which have to be polymerized again to bring them back into the cycle.
Physical Recycling fulfils the criteria for “recycling” of the Waste Directive.
Only a combination of “Feedstock Recovery” with a new Polymerization could be considered as “recycling”.

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published on Linkedin

Over the last 2 years we observed some confusion about available plastic recycling processes.

It seems that the Solvent-based Purification (Dissolution) technology has been overlooked or completely forgotten over the last decades and there exists uncertainty about the underlaying sciences and the advantages & disadvantages of different processes.
Therefore we decided to offer a 2 minutes per day Training Course about the Basics of Plastic Recycling over a period of 15 days as Linkedin posts and started the project on 11^th March 2020 for all those, which might be interested in this subject.

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published of Linkedin

Is it really coincidence and ignorance or in fact intention, that the dissolution (solvent-based purification) for plastic waste recycling is incorrectly described and classified as chemical recycling when it is Physical Recycling?
The positive thing is, that the report “Actieplan Doorbraakproject Chemische Recycling” from VNO-NCW (Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers)  is at least one of the rare cases that includes the “Dissolution” (oplossen) as a recycling technology for plastic waste. This is a progress!

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first published on Linkedin 18th February 2019 - ammended

Plastic waste not sinking in the Sea makes a major "Tragedy of the Commons" visible and hopefully triggers a change to our present way of dealing with such growing waste streams. But what we see is only the “tip of the iceberg” and how plastic descends to the deep ocean is, for the most part still a mystery. We can’t find the vast majority of the ocean plastic but in the mean-time we learned that besides micro-plastic there exists nano-plastic and both will probably not be microbially degraded in any period of time relevant to human society. If we continue depleting, spoiling and poisoning common good (oceans, atmosphere, etc) we may pass the point of no return.

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published on Linkedin

Why is the CreaSolv^® Process consistently incorrectly described instead of accepting that it is a Physical Recycling process that does not destroy polymer chains? It is a Solvent-based Purification that meets the criteria of mechanical recycling (ISO 15270/2008 Plastics) but not the ones of chemical recycling.

The study of the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging (KIDV) is very comprehensive and useful. It compares the CreaSolv^® Process with 3 chemical recycling processes (depolymerization, pyrolysis and gasification) in relation to CO₂ footprint & process cost and proves that Physical Recycling is an attractive alternative to chemical recycling when closing the loop for a Circular Economy. It also shows that we need better definitions for all plastic recycling processes and a plastic waste recycling hierarchy, if we have to decide how to recycle or to design plastic articles, which are recyclable and not single-use.

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published on Linkedin

In their update “Waste & Packaging” (published November 12, 2019) Unilever informs also about their achievements in regard to the CreaSolv^® Process for sachet recycling. Through large scale industrial trials they have proven that the CreaSolv^® Recycling technology is a technically viable solution to recycling sachets. The pilot plant in Indonesia, opened in 2018 and is actually the only facility in the world where this technology is being used to recycle sachets. It can process three tonnes of material a day.

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published on Linkedin

In October 2019, the Greenpeace “False Solutions Report: Throwing away the future” incorrectly classifies solvent-based purification (dissolution) as chemical recycling for plastic waste. They follow/copy uncritically the expertise of Zero Waste Europe’s study “Eldorado of Chemical Recycling” and both miss an opportunity, offered by a technology that leaves the polymer intact... for what they normally have a preference for.

 Solvent-based purification and mechanical recycling are technologies based on physical processes and both leave the polymers intact so that they can be re-used and stay in the "cycle".

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published on Linkedin

Obviously there exists some confusion about what is the underlying science or principle for certain plastic recycling technologies. Having been confronted more often with incorrect classifications of the CreaSolv^® Process as Chemical Recycling we see the need for correction and clarification. The CreaSolv^® Process is a solvent-based purification (dissolution) that is based on physical and not on chemical processes (or changes). During the CreaSolv^® Process the polymer only changes its physical state from solid to liquid and back to solid. Therefore, the correct description is Physical Recycling.

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published on Linkedin

On September 13, 2019 the PolyStyreneLoop project was presented at the Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2019 in Graz, Austria. The CreaSolv^® Technology recycles polystyrene insulation foam from construction and impurities like cement or other residues, as well as the imbedded flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) are safely removed. The HBCD is destroyed, while the valuable bromine component and polystyrene are recovered. Today HBCD is considered a pollutant and millions of tons of PS foam waste can no longer be regularly recycled. The CreaSolv^® Process is based on a Solvent-based Purification and works like a washing machine on a molecular level. It has already been described in the Technical Guidelines of the Basel Convention as a preferred way to treat PS foam waste with HBCD.

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published on Linkedin

The actual classification into mechanical recycling, chemical recycling and energy recovery is outdated and incomplete. It disregards solvent-based purification (dissolution) as individual technology and the opportunities offered by this physical recycling techniques to recycle plastic waste streams that are actually considered as unrecyclable. A Physical Recycling process like the CreaSolv^® Process leaves the polymer chains intact for re-use in the original application in contrary to chemical recycling (feedstock recycling) that always breaks down the polymer into smaller molecules. 

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published on Linkedin

A recent study reveals that the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) was present in 90% of 20 Irish and 50 UK polystyrene packaging samples examined. HBCDD is considered as a POP (persistent organic pollutant) and its production and placing on the market is banned since March 2016.

Flame retardants are used in expanded polystyrene (EPS) building insulation materials but not for packaging!

In 2017 a pilot project confirmed a similar situation in Canada’s largest city Toronto, thus hindering the recycling of this plastic waste stream.

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