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Indsamling af plastflasker og -dunke fra husholdninger

Summary and conclusions

In order to ensure that municipalities and waste companies have a sufficient and up-to-date basis of knowledge concerning the possible establishment of collection systems for squeeze bottles and canisters it is the objective of this project to investigate if collection systems, including reception and collection containers, sorting criteria and especially treatment methods that can ensure disposal possibilities for appropriate recycling of squeeze bottles and canisters from Danish households, have been developed.

An EU directive concerning containers and container waste i.a. states that at least 15%/year of plastic container waste shall be recycled in year 2001. In connection with a revision of the EU directive it is expected that the 15% will increase. In order to make it possible for Denmark to live up to future demands it might become necessary to also collect and recycle squeeze bottles and canisters from households and industry.

In 1998, the total consumption of plastic containers in Denmark amounted to app. 172,000 tons.

The total consumption of plastic retail containers has been estimated to app. 108,000 tons/year. In the light of the above-mentioned investigation, the consumption of plastic retail containers in Danish households amounts to 47,000 - 66,000 tons/year. From this hard plastic amounts to 25,000 - 30,000 tons/year.

It has been calculated that bottles and canisters of plastic from the Danish groceries trade amounts to at least 10,000 tons/year.

In addition, reference is given to the Danish project called "Miljømæssige fordele og ulemper ved genvinding af plast" (Environmental advantages and disadvantages connected with the recovery of plastic), Replast/IPU, 2000. The objective of the project has been to map out the recycling potentials for transport containers and squeeze bottles and canisters from households and industry.

Data from European Topic Center of Waste (ETCoW) shows that the consumption of plastic containers per person/year is 40%-50% higher in Denmark (36 kg) and the Netherlands (37 kg) than in Austria, Germany, Sweden and Norway (22.2 – 27.4 kg).

In chapter 2, experience made so far, concerning the collection of squeeze bottles and canisters from households in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany is investigated and described.

Investigations show that most of the countries in the EU have introduced producer responsibility agreements, i.e. that the container producers have to start initiatives that ensure that the objectives of the container directive or, if possible, more advanced objectives issued by the countries’ governments are met. In Denmark, the municipalities are responsible for waste collection and therefore the municipalities – assigned by legislation – are responsible for the collection and recycling of container waste.

Chapter 3 describes the processing and disposal possibilities in Denmark. In Denmark, there are two companies that are equipped with a wash plant, purifying plant and hydrocyclones and sedimentation and therefore they are able to process plastic container waste from households. The two companies can process plastic containers such as squeeze bottles and canisters made of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and PP (Polypropylene). The companies cannot process a mixture of HDPE and PP because of the demands for a high quality of the regenerate. As lids on squeeze bottles and canisters of HDPE often are made of PP, the companies cannot accept HDPE bottles and canisters with lids. In Denmark, there is no processing capacity for containers made of PET (Polyethyleneterephthalat).

Chapter 4 describes possible future collection systems and sorting criteria for the collection of squeeze bottles and canisters from households, including the results of a 6-month collection experiment comprising squeeze bottles and canisters from households in the municipality of Nyborg.

The pros and cons connected with future collection systems and sorting criteria based on collection and delivery schemes are described. In particular, the collection of squeeze bottles and canisters from households together with glass bottles and container glass is described. Such a collection system would have the advantage that existing collection containers can be used and it is not necessary to find new areas for collection containers in town where the space often is limited.

In addition, a collection system is described in Lund municipality where the refuse is collected door-to-door in eight factions.

From October 2000 till March 2001 a collection experiment was carried out in the municipality of Nyborg for squeeze bottles, canisters and buckets made of plastic.

The experiment was carried out as a delivery scheme where the citizens could return squeeze bottles, canisters and buckets of plastic at the 66 local recycling centres in specially placed plastic containers on wheels (400 litres). In average app. 125 households shared one container.

In addition, the citizens could also return squeeze bottles, canisters and buckets at the recycling centre in the municipality.

After collection the material was sorted by hand on the paper sorting system at the company called Reno Fyn I/S.

The working environment that existed at the time when the collected material in factions was sorted by hand has been evaluated by the Danish Occupational Health Service Centre and found to be as it should be.

All in all, the experiment shows that an average amount of 2.53 kg can be collected per household/year. From this 2.00 kg were squeeze bottles and canisters. Therefore, the collection efficiency (the collected amount in relation to the potential amount) for squeeze bottles and canisters can be estimated to 48.8% if calculating with a potential amount of 10,000 tons per year.

That means that the collection of squeeze bottles and canisters from households in Denmark in relation to the 15% recycling that is a requirement in the EU directive concerning containers and container waste contributes with 3-4%.

80% of the collected material observed the sorting criteria and the quality was estimated to be high.