Legislative pressure is leading to an increase in recycling, particularly in Europe, but also in other parts of the world. European legislation regarding plastic waste is targeted at packaging, automotive products, and electronic & electrical goods. Whilst European regulations set recycling rates for all these products, only the latest WEEE Directive also includes rates for the utilisation of secondary material in the production of electrical and electronic goods. This increase in recycling in these two areas will have two effects: firstly with increased recycling there is an increase in the amount of resulting residues. These will have to be disposed of as well - and not to landfill but to chemical or thermal recovery processes. Secondly, despite the high recycling targets, large amounts of plastic wastes still have to be treated and disposed of using other waste treatment options.

Feedstock recycling is usually less demanding than materials recycling in terms of quality and performance specifications - but it is not a cheap option. Feedstock recycling describes the process where polymers are de-composed by chemical and/or thermal methods to simpler pre-cursor molecules. These can then be used either in plastics production or as basic chemical feedstock for other industries. Examples of feedstock recycling processes include hydrogenation, cracking and pyrolysis. Although conceptually this is an elegant concept, there are few plants operating. Attempts by oil companies, chemicals conglomerates and government research institutes to commercialise this concept have been largely unsuccessful so far. The main issues are process economics and the purity of the resultant products being below normal commercial grade feedstock. Another way of recovering value from plastics is the use of gasification and pyrolysis technologies. Most of the plants being built, or already operational today for waste plastic gasification, use fluid bed gasification. The primary product is a syngas that is combusted to derive energy, though in some instances this syngas can be purified for feedstock recycling.

In Juniper’s work in the field of gasification and pyrolysis we have followed reference projects throughout the world; evaluated opportunities in terms of feedstock selection; assessed energy generation versus chemical production; as well as evaluating the overall availability of suitable technology options.

Through our work in the bio-waste and renewable sector we are also following trends for replacing conventional plastics packaging with biodegradable plastics as an added-value solution. First trials in Germany have indicated the potential that this type of packaging could have in the future. Potential opportunities include not only waste minimisation and improved recycling and treatment of packaging waste, but also benefits in terms of mitigating climate change and renewable energy production along the value chain. The incentive structure could include carbon sink credits, carbon tax reliefs and renewable energy subsidies depending on the location of plantation, production, processing and recovery of the material.

Other developing areas using plastics in an environmentally friendly manner include a combination of plastics and wood materials for construction and civil engineering purposes. This is a trend that is well established in North America and is now also spreading to Europe as a means of reducing the environmental impact of plastics production and processing.

Juniper offers a wide range of services in this area including:

• market studies & analysis concerning recovery and treatment of plastics waste
  
• technology appraisals for recovery options that add value to plastics waste
  
• interpretation of legislative and regulatory drivers, trend forecasting and evaluation of market potentials
  
• waste strategy advice and support in tendering for public authorities and private companies