Plastics waste recovery
Plastics waste recovery involves the collection, sorting and preparation of plastic waste for further processing. It focuses on retrieving plastic materials from waste streams, ensuring they are properly handled and redirected for reuse, recycling or other sustainable applications, without involving the recycling process itself.
- Removing plastic waste from water
Technologies for removing plastic particles and related substances from water include filtration systems, advanced separation techniques and adsorption methods designed to extract microplastics and other contaminants from aquatic environments to prevent pollution and enable recovery.
Removing plastics by vessels
Vessel devices for removal are specialized systems deployed on ships or platforms to collect floating plastic waste from water bodies, using nets, conveyors or filtration to recover materials and prevent marine or estuarial pollution.
Other removal devices
Other removal devices include stationary or mobile systems like barriers, skimmers, etc., designed to capture and reclaim plastic waste from rivers, coastlines and other watery environments to enhance recovery.
Targeted removal
Targeted removal focuses on precision technologies or specialised equipment to identify and extract specific plastic waste types from environments.
Plastic particles
Types of plastics particles, including large (macroplastics) and small (microplastics, nanoplastics), are targeted for removal using advanced filtration, separation and adsorption technologies to clean or mitigate environmental harm and enable recovery from aquatic and terrestrial systems. Macroplastics are large plastic debris, such as bottles and bags, targeted for removal using nets, skimmers, and manual collection methods to prevent environmental damage, danger to wildlife, and facilitate recovery for recycling. Tiny plastic fragments with a size ranging between one micron and five millimeters are called microplastics. They are targeted for removal using advanced filtration, sedimentation and adsorption technologies to mitigate their environmental impact and enable recovery from water and soil. Plastic particles smaller than microplastics are called nanoplastics. These ultra-small plastic particles are targeted for removal using specialised filtration, membrane technologies and chemical treatments to address their environmental and health risks.
Released additives
Released additives, such as plasticisers or stabilizers, are targeted for removal using adsorption, filtration or chemical treatments to mitigate their environmental and health impact during plastic waste recovery.
- Waste collecting
Methods of removal encompass mechanical, chemical and biological techniques to extract plastic waste from environments, including filtration, sedimentation, biodegradation and advanced separation technologies, enabling efficient recovery and pollution prevention.
Physical methods
This concept covers specific physical methods for the removal of plastics from water, i.e. flotation, sedimentation, hydrolysis, evaporation, extraction, irradiation and mechanical, magnetic and electric extraction.
Chemical methods
Chemical methods break down or modify plastic waste, enabling its removal, recovery or conversion into valuable resources. The methods include flocculation, precipitation, pH adjustment and the removal of dissolved compounds. They use chemical reactions to aggregate or separate plastic pollutants, enabling efficient recovery and purification from water or waste streams. Another set of methods involve chemical oxidation or reduction to break down plastic pollutants into simpler, less harmful compounds, facilitating their removal or conversion into reusable materials through reactive processes.
Biological methods
Biological methods use microorganisms or enzymes to degrade plastic waste into harmless byproducts, enabling eco-friendly removal and recovery from water.
Waste collection: overview
Plastic collecting for solid waste management involves systematic gathering, sorting and processing of plastic waste from households, industries and public spaces to enable recycling, recovery and pollution reduction.
- Sorting and separating
Sorting and separating involve classifying plastic waste by type, colour or composition using manual, mechanical or automated systems to streamline recycling and recovery processes.
Optical methods
Optical sorting uses sensors and cameras to identify and separate plastics by colour, type or composition, enabling precise and efficient recycling and recovery processes.
Chemical sorting
Chemical sorting involves using solvents or reactive agents to selectively dissolve or modify specific plastics, enabling their separation and recovery from mixed waste streams.
Selective dissolution
Selective dissolution uses targeted solvents to dissolve specific plastics, separating them from mixed waste for recovery and recycling while leaving other materials undissolved.
Electrostatic and electrical sorting
Electrostatic and electrical sorting exploits differences in charge or conductivity to separate plastics, enabling efficient recovery and recycling of specific polymer types from mixed waste.
Magnetic and eddy current separator approaches
Magnetic properties and eddy current separators use magnetic fields to sort metals and separate metallic-containing plastics or non-ferrous metals, enhancing recovery efficiency in recycling processes.
Density/gravity
Density gravity sorting separates plastics based on their specific weight using air, water or centrifugal forces, enabling efficient recovery of different polymer types from mixed waste.
Other plastic waste sorting methods
Other methods like melting temperature differences, froth flotation or hydropulping separate plastics based on specific properties to enhance recovery and recycling efficiency in complex waste streams.
Washing and cleaning
Washing and cleaning remove contaminants, adhesives and residues from plastic waste using water, detergents or mechanical action to prepare materials for efficient recycling and recovery.