I am looking into having our companies plastic scrap recycled. Removed from the facility and recycled, rather than sent to a land fill. I realize that we do not need to fill landfills with a product that will never go away. But on the flip side, why should I have to pay for this service when the landfill is almost free.
Question; Do most recycle compaines want you to pay for this service? If so, then why should I even take the time to mess with having it recycled?
Tim :confused:

There a a few "depends" here.

It depends on the type of plastic.

It depends on the market demand.

It depends upon supply.

It depends upon who and how you approach.

It depends on how much you have to pay per lb to land fill as opposed to cost you'd have to pay for recycling (if there is a cost).

It depends on if you can just give the stuff away and defer any potential cost.

It depends........so on and so forth

Tim,

What kind of material is it and what form is it in (pellets, injection molding scrap, etc...)?

The scrap in regrind from the injection molding department, here in our facility.
I found out this morning that we scrap about 30% material. THat is alot of material.
Tim

We are in a similar situation. We are remanufacturer of automotive parts. Some of the parts we get in have damaged covers or cases. We end up having to send approximately 600-700 of these to the landfill a day. We have tried to recycle this stuff and even sent samples to some plastic recycling companies. After they analyze the stuff, they do not want it. It seems due to the type of plastic, something to do with the content and it being automotive plastic (heat treated?), they can't recycle it. One guy said it was the talc content that did not make it feasible. We tried, but it does seem such a waste.

It really does seem such a waste. However; alot of the automotive parts materials are made from Phnolic ( I think I spelled that right). Anyway, if that is true, Phnolic can not be reused due to the amount of glass in the material. It will not remelt as it did in its virgin form, where nylons and some polocarbonets will.

As stated before, I just found out that we are throwing away about 30% of our plastics, that can be reuesd as regrind, not virgin, into the dumpster. this is not good. We can only use 25% regrind mixed with virgin in our processess. This is per UL and other standards.

Good luck in your venture to reuse the materials. If I hear of anyone that can use it, I will let you know. :tg:
Tim

Recycling regrind without having to pay for it is available, but does require some effort to find the source. With the many types of plastics you'll need to find a manufacture that can use the same plastics you're using in their process.

Something to look at is the ability for you to reuse the regrind. 30% scrap is a huge amount, costing your company alot of money. I'd encourage you to start looking at ways you can put that scrap back into your stream (or ways to reduce the amount of scrap).

My experience is much along the lines of what Randy said. Obviously the types make a difference, as does color and packaging. I recycle about 25000 pounds of mixed plastic on a monthly basis. I pay to bale it in 1000 pound bales, but the company that buys it takes it and reuses it at no cost. While we're not making money on the deal, I'm also not loosing money as the cost to landfill (including trucking to landfill) is greater than my cost to bale. Plus, it keeps my largest customer happy as its their product I'm scrapping. no they can report to their persons with vested interest that they recycle better than 96% of all scrap. Now if I can just get that scrap % down to 3.

With the help from this fourm, I found a company that will purchase the regrind scrap we create. thanks for your help.
However I do have another question. Is there anyway to recycle Thermoset materials? I know that Thermoset can not be reused due to it can not be remelted and formed. Is there anyone that wants thermoset waste as a filler?
Tim

Look for an asphalt or concrete manufacturer. I've seen old computer parts, glass and other things go into asphalt and concrete.

With the help from this fourm, I found a company that will purchase the regrind scrap we create. thanks for your help.
However I do have another question. Is there anyway to recycle Thermoset materials? I know that Thermoset can not be reused due to it can not be remelted and formed. Is there anyone that wants thermoset waste as a filler?
Tim

If you dont find a source in the next 2 weeks let me know. I will be sending a load to a company the end of next week. They agreed to put it into their system and test the results. I'll be happy to share their name with you if it works.

Randy is giving you good direction. The company testing this for us is using the blend in an asphalt addative.

Thanks,
Tim

Slightly:topic:
I saw a playground at a highway rest area which was completely carpeted with rubber chips from old tires (I went through several dozen handfuls and didn't see one wire from steel belted tires! I wonder how they do that?)

There had just been a massive rainstorm earlier in the day, the surrounding lawns and parking lots had lots of standing water and ponding, but there were 6 or 7 kids playing and staying dry. I was very impressed with the drainage. Also, there was no noxious "rubber smell" that I get when I walk past the old tires set aside for the recycle truck behind the Sears auto service.

I LOVE the idea of recycling. It seems to me much more effort should go into finding a use and market for production scrap - even to the point of making the exercise part of the process FMEA.

I contacted the American Plastics Council a few months ago as I was having problems finding sources for some of our scrap plastics. The answer I was given is it usually cheaper to manufacture new plastic than it is to recycle the old.

IMO, it will require several million dollars of federal money to encourage the industry to change.

I contacted the American Plastics Council a few months ago as I was having problems finding sources for some of our scrap plastics. The answer I was given is it usually cheaper to manufacture new plastic than it is to recycle the old.

IMO, it will require several million dollars of federal money to encourage the industry to change.Or, for the price of plastic to go through the roof due to the astronomical cost of oil.

The scrap in regrind from the injection molding department, here in our facility.
I found out this morning that we scrap about 30% material. THat is alot of material.
Tim

I don't think any of my clients pay to have it taken, unless it is contaminated or mixed. Most of my sell it at a few cents per pound, depending on type. I would seek more sources online or in trade mags.

I don't think any of my clients pay to have it taken, unless it is contaminated or mixed. Most of my sell it at a few cents per pound, depending on type. I would seek more sources online or in trade mags.

30% percent is a very high scrap rate. Can you make a profit at that level? Are you looking at causes and trying to get them in control?

I contacted the American Plastics Council a few months ago as I was having problems finding sources for some of our scrap plastics. The answer I was given is it usually cheaper to manufacture new plastic than it is to recycle the old.

IMO, it will require several million dollars of federal money to encourage the industry to change.

As I mentioned in the other post, I know most if not all of my clients recycle. And, the only times I hear they are not receiving (modest amounts of ) money for it is if it is contaminated. Recycling plastic has to be cheaper than making new, in most cases.

Recycling thermoplastic materials can be done, however for thermoset materials, this is a different book altogether. From searching the net i have found that FL. / Alaska / Ohio and a very few others use rubber in their asphalt. Almost none use thermoset plastics. Since Thermoset can not be remelted and reformed, it is basically dead material.

If anyone has any idea or know of a use for this material, please let me know.

It's always good to research new paths. Who knows! We might find a use for Thermoset if we keep this thread up. :agree1:

Tim

Recycling thermoplastic materials can be done, however for thermoset materials, this is a different book altogether. From searching the net i have found that FL. / Alaska / Ohio and a very few others use rubber in their asphalt. Almost none use thermoset plastics. Since Thermoset can not be remelted and reformed, it is basically dead material.

If anyone has any idea or know of a use for this material, please let me know.

It's always good to research new paths. Who knows! We might find a use for Thermoset if we keep this thread up. :agree1:

Tim

Here is a link to two articles on thermoset recycling. If you can't find some one to recycle it, it can always be burned for btu value.

The articles were published in the "Journal of Applied Polymer Science"

http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/bfrlall/key/key3972.html

Here is a link to two articles on thermoset recycling. If you can't find some one to recycle it, it can always be burned for btu value.

The articles were published in the "Journal of Applied Polymer Science"

http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/bfrlall/key/key3972.html
It's actually one paper linked to twice, for no apparent reason. Here's part of the conclusion of the authors:


UFG fillers can be used effectively in blends with HDPE, as one of the possible applications for this recycled thermoset. When compared with more traditional fillers, the UFG is lighter and less expensive, and the modulus gains are similar, although the UFG-based systems are likely to be more brittle. The results of the present study suggest that the addition of zinc-neutralized ionomer can produce significant increases in modulus, at only a modest cost in elongation to break.The paper was was written in 1999 and published in 2000; five years later there doesn't seem to be any widespread use of UFG thermoset in the manner described.

Recycling thermoplastic materials can be done, however for thermoset materials, this is a different book altogether. From searching the net i have found that FL. / Alaska / Ohio and a very few others use rubber in their asphalt. Almost none use thermoset plastics. Since Thermoset can not be remelted and reformed, it is basically dead material.

If anyone has any idea or know of a use for this material, please let me know.

It's always good to research new paths. Who knows! We might find a use for Thermoset if we keep this thread up. :agree1:

Tim

It is possible that PRC may have use for such material.....of course, prior to accepting it they will want a certificate from an accredited inspection body, so unless you have quite a bit it may be beyond diminishing returns.....

Hershal