Experimental investigation of the quality characteristics of agricultural plastic wastes regarding their recycling and energy recovery potential

Journal Article · Fri Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2012.01.018· OSTI ID:21612980

Briassoulis, D ^[1]; Hiskakis, M; Babou, E ^[1]; Papadi, C ^[2]

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1. Agricultural University of Athens, Agricultural Engineering Department, 75 Iera Odos Str., 11855 Athens (Greece)
2. Polyeco S.A., 16 km National Road Athens-Korinthos, Aspropyrgos 19300 (Greece)

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Definition of parameters characterising agricultural plastic waste (APW) quality. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Analysis of samples to determine APW quality for recycling or energy recovery. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Majority of APW samples from various countries have very good quality for recycling. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Upper limit of 50% w/w soil contamination in APW acceptable for energy recovery. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Chlorine and heavy metals content in APW below the lowest limit for energy recovery. - Abstract: A holistic environmentally sound waste management scheme that transforms agricultural plastic waste (APW) streams into labelled guaranteed quality commodities freely traded in open market has been developed by the European research project LabelAgriWaste. The APW quality is defined by the APW material requirements, translated to technical specifications, for recycling or energy recovery. The present work investigates the characteristics of the APW quality and the key factors affecting it from the introduction of the virgin product to the market to the APW stream reaching the disposer. Samples of APW from different countries were traced from their application to the field through their storage phase and transportation to the final destination. The test results showed that the majority of APW retained their mechanical properties after their use preserving a 'very good quality' for recycling in terms of degradation. The degree of soil contamination concerning the APW recycling and energy recovery potential fluctuates depending on the agricultural plastic category and application. The chlorine and heavy metal content of the tested APW materials was much lower than the maximum acceptable limits for their potential use in cement industries.

• OSTI ID: 21612980
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Journal Name: Waste Management Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 32; ISSN WAMAE2; ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
AGRICULTURAL WASTES
CEMENT INDUSTRY
CHLORINE
CONTAMINATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY RECOVERY
HALOGENS
HEAVY METALS
INDUSTRY
MANAGEMENT
MARKET
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
METALS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
ORGANIC WASTES
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
POLYMERS
RECYCLING
SOILS
SPECIFICATIONS
STORAGE
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES