Published: July 12, 2008 03:14 pm            

A Word About Recycling - July 13, 2008

We all know there are a lot of different types of plastic out there... so when companies using this recycled material to create new products, it is important it be only the correct type. Thus an article in the latest Recycling Today e-newsletter caught our eye.

"The International Organization for Standardization is introducing a new standard that targets the plastic recovery and recycling industry. The new standard is ISO 15270:2008, Plastics. It provides guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastics waste."

It explained, "Plastics material for recovery may be obtained from various sources and the major markets for plastics are packaging, building and construction products, electrical and electronic products, automotive/transportation, and household/consumer items."

We find, "ISO 15270:2008 establishes the different options for the recovery of plastics waste arising from pre-consumer and post-consumer sources."

The article explained "In general, plastics recovery technologies can be divided into two classes."

They are: 1) "material recovery, including mechanical recycling, chemical or feedstock recycling, and biological or organic recycling; and"

2) "energy recovery in the form of heat, steam, or electricity generation using plastics waste as substitutes for primary fossil fuel resources."

(On the latter, since plastics are made from oil, there is a lot of heat value in them.)

And while on the importance of separating the different types of plastics, another article explained what a European company has developed.

"Sicon, a German technology company, has developed an innovative method for pure-grade separation of plastics based on lamella separation from wastewater purification."

Their process "Polyfloat incorporates intelligent control technology, allowing the use of different fluid densities to reach an "astounding" level of purity, according to the company. Using this new system, a purity level of more than 99 percent can be achieved. The polyfloat system is available for hard plastics and films in various performance classes ranging from 0.5 to 5 metric tons per hour."

Finally for today, noticed a new product advertised in the e-newsletter.

"Gehl Co., an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer based in West Bend, Wis., has produced a solid rubber, single-aperture tire that will never puncture, blow-out or go flat, reducing downtime and increasing productivity."

The tires "... last up to four times as long as standard pneumatic and foam-filled tires, according to the manufacturer. Additional benefits of the new tires include extra large tapered lugs for enhanced traction and maximum wear life, long-wearing tread compound that resists cutting and chunking, superior stability on improved and unimproved surfaces and single-aperture holes, which provide shock absorption for a more comfortable ride."

(Sounds like something we could use on our little farm to keep our tractor tires from going flat with all the Mesquite thorns... although Slime does a pretty good job and is probably much much cheaper.)

Till next week, do have a great one...



Gloria and Ollie are local citizens concerned with the environment and helping others.

Ollie is a graduate of Leadership San Marcos and they both received higher education at TxState University and worked on staff before retiring. For questions or comments, please call them at (512) 353-7432 or e-mail them to omaier@TxState.edu

        

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