The densification of plastic waste destined for the production of fuels

When we talk about the circular economy, we talk a lot about fashion nowadays, we mean the production of a good, its use, its recycling at the end of its life and the new production made with the raw material of the recycled product.

In this process it is not always possible to circulate 100% of the waste we collect through common mechanical recycling systems.

A part of them ended up and ends up in landfills, with decomposition times so long as to define them as eternal, with problems of possible pollution of the surrounding areas.

In the field of plastics, what we can define as waste can still be recovered through the creation of a product suitable for the production of industrial fuel intended for plants such as cement plants, steel mills and other energy-intensive productions.

The argument of the use of non-recyclable municipal waste as a fuel cannot be more current than this, given the situation of high oil and gas prices, which are strongly affecting production costs, both of industrial activities and in the production of electricity.

Using non-recyclable municipal waste means:

• Reduce the use of fossil fuels

• Reduce waste that would go to landfills

• Reduce production costs

• Use fuels at Km. 0

• Reduce the carbon footprint of the traffic of industrial raw materials

• Reduce energy dependence from abroad

Northern Europe, where the use of CSS and CDR for the production of electricity and for powering industrial furnaces is about 60-80% of the fuels used, shows us how new air filtration technologies make the process safe and convenient.

But how must the waste be prepared to be used as fuel?

The waste of urban waste is a heterogeneous mix, mainly composed of mixed plastics, which are, due to their shape, nature, density and composition, in need of a treatment that mix them regularly in order to use them as fuel.

This operation can be done through the use of specific densifiers, which transform what is a decomposed and variegated mass of plastic waste into a product in the shape of a coarse ground.

The purpose of the densifier is not only to regularize the mixed plastic waste, in sizes ranging from 25 to 60 mm., therefore easily usable in all ovens , but also to drastically reduce the percentage of humidity, creating a dry and performing comburent.

The desnsificator is a system that is also used to mix flexible and light plastics during the recycling phases.

In fact, in order to extrude the plastic waste with low specific weight, the parts tend to agglomerate together, creating pieces that can, through their greater weight , be easily managed in an extrusion or molding plant.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.