Energy recovery
Besides the existing recycling networks, energy recovery is also a very interesting alternative for plastic packaging, encouraged by the effective legislation (law n°92-646 of the 13/07/92).Energy recovery mainly concerns small or dirty plastic packaging for which selection is technically or economically not adapted to recycling.
For this type of waste, energy recovery is, from an ecological point of view, the best solution.
The objective is to use combustible packaging to produce energy through incineration with or without other waste, but with heat recovery.
The plastics in the incinerators contribute to the production of electricity and heat, whereas the use of separated fractions, like paper/plastic mixes, is used as alternative combustibles in power stations. This allows for the replacement of coal and for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
The substitution of coal by all the plastic waste that can not be properly recycled, would reduce by 25% the greenhouse gases and by 15% the imports of coal used in Europe.
The smoke emitted by the communal incinerators is not dangerous. The dioxins, for example, are totally destroyed at high temperature.
A majority of local collectivities goes for this solution to eliminate their waste.
What is the energy profit of the main plastic materials?
The energy profit can be used for urban heating or the production of electricity.
Every year, 300 000 tones of petrol are saved in France thanks to energy recovery.
EPS, a good example for energy recovery
The deposits of industrial or commercial EPS packaging which can not be recycled (deposits of small and dirty quantities, far away from an existing network) are guided towards energy recovery.
In 2009, 9900T of EPS packaging followed this network in France. This represents 25% of the total EPS packaging consumption in France.
Petrol derivative (see the life-cycle analysis of EPS: http://www.ecopse.fr/page.asp?IDp=1)represents a real advantage because it contributes to the energy recovery at end of life.
1. Its high caloric value helps the combustion of the waste in the furnace. 1kg EPS = 1.4 liters of petrol.
2. Entirely composed of carbon and hydrogen, it emits no toxic gases during its combustion
3. To these direct savings are added those generated by the recovery of energy emitted during the waste combustion. The recovered energy is used for various applications: electricity, to warm water or vapor, to heat buildings or business parks.
The life-cycle analysis of a television packaging carried out in 10 European countries in 2002, showed that the use of systematic energy recovery for EPS improves the environmental performance by 15 to 30% (depending on the parameters).
