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Plastic Sorting Best Management Practices:Resources for MRFs, Municipalities, & Reclaimers

September 25, 2018

* RESCHEDULED

Presentation slides and recording will be posted on the APR Website.

Today’s Presenters

Kara PochiroAPR VP ofCommunications &Public Affairs

Tonya RandellProgram Managerat More Recycling

Associates

Stacey DemersProject Director at SCS

Engineers

Liz BedardAPR Director of APROlefins /Rigids PlasticsRecycling Program

Today’s Session…

Brief Overview of APRAPR’s Perspective & Intro to BMPsA Consultant’s Perspective & How BMPs Benefit Cities, StatesIndustry Expert’s Perspective & Demonstration of BMPsQuestions

International trade association

The Voice of Plastics Recycling®

Companies committed to the success of plasticsrecycling

Who is APR?

IncreaseSupply

EnhanceQuality

ExpandDemand

CommunicateValue

APR Primary Goals

APR BestManagement

Practices forPlastic Sorting

Liz Bedard, DirectorAPR Olefins/Rigids Program

APR Best Management Practicesfor Plastic Sorting

Plastics come in many different resins and forms.

Optimizing plastic recycling requires understanding –

What plastic material is in therecycling stream?


The IssueMunicipalities and states regularly sort

wastes/plastics to understand their streams.

However, there are no plastic sorting standards.

Without plastic sorting standards, valuablewaste sorts can not provide:

• Consistent data• Comparative data• Understanding of trends


The SolutionAPR Best Management Practices for

Plastic Sorting

Developed by:• Association of Plastic Recyclers

• More Recycling• Key Waste Composition Consultants

Support from American Chemistry Council


The result of detailed researchand industry review.

Taking into consideration varied aspects ofwaste/plastic sorts, such as:

• Budget

• A community’s specific recyclables list

• Anticipated waste stream and,

• Item considered problematic


What are the BMPs?

Three plastic sorting levels &five major categories.

Major Categories

1. #1 and #2 Bottles/Jars2. #3-7 Bottles & Small Rigids3. Bulky Rigids4. Film & Flexibles5. Other Plastic

Plastic Sort Levels

1. Sorting Level #12. Sorting Level #23. Sorting Level #3


• Sorting Level #3’s twenty nine sortswhich can be contracted into….

• Sorting Level #2’s seventeen sortswhich can be contracted into…..

• Sorting Level #1’s eight sorts.

All sorting categories are based on“Marketable Bales”.


SortingLevel #1

SortingLevel #2

SortingLevel #3

#1 & #2 Bottles/Jars 3 3 3

#3-7 Bottles & Small Rigids 1 8 18

Bulky Rigids 1 1 1

Film & Flexibles 2 3 4

Other Plastics 1 2 3Total 8 Sorts 17 Sorts 29 Sorts


How Industry will use Data?

• Standardized categories enable plastic reclaimers to:• Improve recovery approaches

• Understand volumes available

• See trends in the industry

• Anticipate needed capital investments

APR BestManagement

Practices forPlastic Sorting

Liz Bedard, DirectorAPR Olefins/Rigids [email protected]

21

What Are WeWasting?Using Waste Characterization Data forProgram Planning and Design

SCS ENGINEERS

Why Do A WasteCharacterization Study?

• Gauge Program Success

• Assess Diversion Opportunities

• Calculate Environmental Benefits

• Estimate Potential Revenue and Jobs

• Identify Disposal Trends

• Target Materials and Generators

• Assist in Facility Design

• Evaluate Energy Value

22

SCS ENGINEERS

What Materials are in This Pile?

23

Material Types usuallydictated by Client, andbased on:

1. Previous Studies2. What MRF Accepts3. Recycling Programs

of otherjurisdictions

4. Curiosity

SCS ENGINEERS

Typical Load Sampling

24

SCS ENGINEERS

Sample Sorting

25

Waste SortingHappens:1. Quickly – sort about

2000 pounds per day2. Larger, Easily-

Identifiable ItemsFirst

3. UnidentifiableItems go in OtherCategory

4. Plastics alwaysmost difficultmaterial

SCS ENGINEERS

Some Plastic Material Types

26

PET Bottles (#1) HDPE Natural (#2)Bottles & Jars

SCS ENGINEERS


27

Polystyrene (#6)Styrofoam

Expanded Polystyrene(#6)

SCS ENGINEERS


28

Single-Use ShoppingBags

HDPE Colored (#2)Bottles & Jars

SCS ENGINEERS

Consistent Material Definitions AllowComparisons

29

PAPER

PLASTIC

ORGANIC

METAL

GLASS

OTHER

YEAR - 1996

PAPER

PLASTIC

ORGANIC

METALGLASS

OTHER

YEAR - 2007

PAPER

PLASTIC

ORGANICMETAL

GLASS

OTHER

YEAR - 2014

The Changing Waste Stream

SCS ENGINEERS

Although Material Types Can Be Added

30

OGANIC

METAL

GLASS

OTHER

PAPER

PET Containers

PET Bottles

#3-#7 Containers

Durable Plastic Items

Other Plastic

Non-Recyclable Film

Recyclable Plastic Film

PLASTIC

YEAR = 2014

SCS ENGINEERS

Before a Waste Characterization Study…

31

Stacey Demers, ProjectDirectorSCS [email protected]

1. How Will the Information & Data be Useda) Education and Outreachb) Evaluation of Existing Programs

2. More Materials = More time = More Cost3. Plan Early for Comparisons

a) Prior Studiesb) Other Jurisdictions and Statewide

4. Use APR Guidance for Consistency

Good Waste Sort DataMatters

Tonya RandellSeptember 25, 2018APR webinar

Why Waste Sort Data is Important

Good Standards = Clear, Usable Data

• There is a loss of clarity when we diverge from standards.• For example, PET Bottle bales usually contain PET jars.

– But if you sort only bottles and put the PET jars into a differentcategory, PET hasn’t been sorted in a way that can easily combinedto track to the marketable commodity.

– It’s hard to aggregate data about what is or isn’t being collected,marketed, and reclaimed.

• Standard waste sort categories support existing efforts to usestandard terms for both outreach and commodity discussions.

Plastic Recycling Terms and Tools

Goal: Increase thequality and quantity ofplastics collected and tofacilitate better tracking.

Outreach Terms

Clear, Concise &Common terminologyand simple tools forcommunity recyclingprograms to helpcommunicate moreeffectively to residents.

Commodity Terms

Use APR bale specsto help streamlinecommunicationsabout buying andselling plastics thathave been collectedin the plastics valuechain.

31%

20%

25%

24%

PET HDPE Non-Bottle Rigids Film

Annual PlasticSurvey Data

~ 6 BillionLbs in 2016

More Recycling collectsdata to see whatplastics are beingrecycled in the US andCanada.We provide data or writereports on these 4distinct categories

Granular DataDrives IndustryBecause Non-Bottle Rigids make up aquarter of the total plastic we track, it’simportant to break out to othercategories to see trends by resin.

33%

2%

5%

4%

7%

17%

5%

2%

11%

14%

PP Bottles, Containers & Other Rigid HDPE Bottles- Natural HDPE Bottles- Colored HD/LD Containers & Other Rigid

PET Bottles/Jars PET Containers & Other Rigid PS Containers & Other Rigid Bulky Rigid Plastic

Other Containers & Rigid Trash

EstimatedBreakout of3-7 Bales

Consistent DataLeads to Trends

Using the samedata categoriesacross thecountry andyear over yearallows industryto track trendsover time.

Waste BMPs and Data Collection

Good National Data Starts Here

Level 2

Level 3

Level 3details

Sample Sort forSpecific Items:Pouches and PSFoamIf you only wanted to focus onPouches and Foam, you could dospecific sorts of Film & Flexiblesand Other Plastics, withoutneeding to do the sub-sorts for 3-7 & Smalls.We believe everyone wouldcontinue to pull out HDPE andPET bottles because of the rolethey play in most plastic recyclingprograms.

Conclusion

• These BMPs help us with better comparisons;• Which help us draw conclusions on where we are,

compare to where we were, and provide direction aboutwhere we should go with plastic recycling.

• And they work in tandem with other industry efforts fromeducation through the value chain to reclamation andconversion.

Questions?

Tonya [email protected]

plasticsrecycling.org

[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]

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