Abstract
Current demand for wood biomass and plastic composite materials is increasing year by year. At the same time, mixed wastes that include plastics and wood materials continue to be generated from waste treatment streams without efficient, economical recycling and utilization of these mixtures via separation. It is crucial, therefore, that treatment systems not requiring separation are developed to address the situation. The future of recycling in Japan must look ahead with an aim to not only increase the amount of recycling being done, but also to improve the quality of products being recovered. To realize this, production of “circulative resources, ” such as feedstocks used in the chemical industry and high quality fuel from complicated mixed wastes, must be achieved. This paper first summarizes the current situation with regard to plastic recycling and utilization of woody biomass through thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis, incineration and gasification. With examples showing the effectiveness of co-pyrolysis treatments, the paper goes on to introduce some of the research being conducted by the authors on co-pyrolysis of wood biomass/plastic mixtures and syngas production from these mixtures.
