Research on recovery methods and recyclability of waste plastics from commercial facilities

Abstract

It is not clear how the waste plastics discharged from commercial facilities are sorted. In addition, for industrial waste, each business operator concludes an individual contract with a licensed collection company. There is no unified separation rule because the type of sorting and discharge methods are determined through consultation between the two parties. In order to promote the recycling of waste plastics, we assume that it will be possible to efficiently collect waste plastics by understanding the characteristics of plastics discharged from respective buildings with specific uses and understanding their suitability for recycling. In this study, we conducted a survey on the current situation and composition of plastic emissions as well as the pellet evaluation (physical properties testing and food sanitation evaluation) targeting commercial facilities. As a result, we confirmed the recyclability of flexible plastics ((1) LLDPE only and (2) mixed PE/PP) that are often discharged from commercial facilities.