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How Clamshells became Recyclable. Chandler Slavin , Dordan Manufacturing. What is The sustainable manufacturer?. Extended producer responsibility means the product producer is required to pay for the end of life management of the product, not tax payers.
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How Clamshells became Recyclable Chandler Slavin, Dordan Manufacturing
Extended producer responsibility means the product producer is required to pay for the end of life management of the product, not tax payers. For a package to be recyclable, it has to be collected for recycling in the majority of American communities (<60%).
Began “Recycling in America” blog • Submitted PET clamshells to waste management to see if they would sort with PET bottles via Near Infrared system. • Test found the clamshells were sorted with bottles • Conclude that it is not a problem of automated sortation.
Invited to be co-lead of Walmart Canada’s PET Subcommittee of the Material Optimization Committee. Published “Recycling Report: the Truth about Blister & Clamshell Recycling in America with suggestions for the Industry”
Economics of recycling If a package is easy to collect, transport, sort, clean, bale, and resell/recycle, then it is likely that said packaging is recyclable. Cost of collection “Enough” generation
Supply & Demand Demand for recycled PET outweighs supply, 3:1 If you add PET clamshells to the PET bottle recycling stream, then there will be more PET available for collecting for recycling.
Sortation & Contamination Adding clamshells to the bottle recycling stream can not compromise the quality of the reprocessed PET demanded by buyers. Different IVs between bottles and clamshells? Labels and adhesives Look-a-like contamination
Cost of recycling Supply & Demand Sortation & Contamination
2010 Interview http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20110112/MULTIMEDIA01/301129990/container-recycling-remains-daunting
Industry Collaboration Canadian Retailers mandate that clamshells sold at retail transition to PET to increase amount generated and available for recycling and reduce issues of look a like contamination. APR develops a protocol for testing adhesives used on clamshell labels for compatibility with recycling prior to entering market APR publishes “Design for Recycling Guidelines” for PET clamshells Specs are created for PET bottle and clamshell bales SPI awards a grant to 3 municipalities to develop the systems for successfully collecting and sorting clamshells for recycling Wellman Plastics reports buying PET clamshell/bottle bales @10% clamshells and having no issue with recycling Cited issue of differences in IV compromising performance of recyclate a non-issue for plastics suppliers due to solid stating technologies and experience blending varying IVs for different levels of “gooeyness” contingent on material application.
NAPCOR reports, 2011 saw the first significant amount of PET clamshell packaging moving through the system in both the US and Canada. Since 2009, NAPCOR has made the removal of obstacles to PET clamshell recycling its top priority…as a way of increasing feedstock opportunities for reclaimers, and ultimately ensuring more RPET flake and pellet supply to end users. These efforts are bearing fruit, as all purchasers and processors of curbside bales are allowing some level of clamshells mixed in with the bottles…In the short-term, increased PET clamshell collection is the best hope of addressing the key issue of increasing supply.
Clamshells are “recyclable” Moore Recycling Associates report that 57% of American communities accepted PET clamshells for recycling in 2011. PET clamshells are now “recyclable” according to the FTC Green Guides.
Pilot background • 3 municipalities awarded grants based on proposals. • Montgomery County, MD, proposed an efficient urban/suburban model for PET clamshell recycling. • Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center (hereafter, RMC) proposed a rural collection model for clamshell recycling. • Firststar Fiber proposed an efficient away-from-home clamshell recycling model.
Intermediate Processing Montgomery County processed PET clamshells in secondary sort, once all the fiber, metal, PET bottle and HDPE containers had been removed. RMC, with its focus on rural recycling programs, relied on source separation at drop off locations as the primary processing method for PET clamshell recycling. Firestar sorted PET clamshells at the end of the line once all other commodities had been pulled off.
The results In Montgomery County, the total PET clamshells shipped during the grant period was 258.67 Tons vs. the 40.14 Tons shipped six months before the grant. For RMC, the PET clamshells collected were mixed with bottles, with 10% of each bale by weight estimated to be PET clamshells. Mixed PET bottle/clamshell bales totaled 27.4 Tons, 2.74 Tons being PET clamshells. And at Firstar, a study performed on the PET sorted identified that PET clamshells represented 9% of the total PET processed.
Pilot takeaways There is no one-size-fits all when it comes to recycling post consumer PET clamshells. These model programs demonstrate the unique character of each community’s waste management systems and how this variability informs the type of sortation methods required to find a home for post consumer PET clamshell containers.
