PCR sustainable recycled materials including r-PP, r-PE, r-ABS, r-PS, r-PET, etc

What is PCR material?

PCR material literally means: post-consumer recycled plastic. Post consumer plastic.

Due to the increase in the use of plastic products around the world year by year, plastic waste has caused irreversible damage and pollution to the global environment. So under the appeal and organization of the MacArthur Foundation (you can go to Baidu to get a MacArthur Jinji meeting), world-renowned brand companies have begun to challenge the problem of controlling plastic pollution. At the same time, the New Plastics Economy was opened, and the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment was signed.

(Now with the fermentation of the carbon neutrality plan: advocating a circular economy and reducing carbon emissions, it has inserted a pair of wings for the development of PCR materials.)

Who is using PCR material? Why use PCR?

Among them, the brands we are familiar with: Adidas, Nike, Coca-Cola, Unilever, L'Oreal, P & G and other well-known companies. (PCR materials have been used a long time ago: the most mature is PCR-PET materials (raw materials caused by beverage bottles recycled) used in the field of textiles and clothing.) These brand companies have formulated sustainable development plans, that is, within a certain period of time, the products belonging to their own brands need to use a certain amount of PCR recycled materials to reduce the use of new materials, mainly including plastic products, especially flexible packaging. Some brands have even set up a 2030 company to use 100% recycled or renewable materials for all plastic products. (It means that my company used to use 10,000 tons of new materials a year to make products, but now it is all changed to PCR (recycled materials).

What types of PCR are currently on the market?

At present, the main categories of PCR materials are: PET, PP, ABS, PS, PE, PS, etc. Common general-purpose plastics can be PCR. Its essence is to recycle and reuse new materials after use. Commonly known as: return material. (Are you familiar with it?)

The full name of PCR is Post-Consumer Recycled material, which is the recycled material of consumer plastics, such as PET, PE, PP, HDPE, etc., and then processed into plastic raw materials for the manufacture of new packaging materials. Recycling of waste plastics from common consumer products such as lunch boxes, shampoo bottles, mineral water bottles, washing machine buckets, etc.

The full name of PIR is Post-Industrial Recycled material, that is, industrial plastic recycling, which refers to the materials produced by the industry due to its own production process or process, commonly known as nozzle material and waste. This is much easier to deal with than PCR. If there are no special circumstances, it can be re-created by breaking it immediately.

According to the amount of recycling, PCR plastics have an absolute advantage in quantity, and PIR plastics have an absolute advantage in terms of reprocessing quality.

Therefore, strictly speaking, both PCR and PIR plastics are recycled plastics that have been mentioned in the industry, but they are more standardized or written language.

Application fields and paths of PCR plastics

　　At present, different industries are promoting the use of related PCR plastics. Due to the different requirements for plastics in various industries, the use paths of PCR plastics in various industries are different.

(1) Consumer electronics and office equipment

　　The environmental impact of consumer electronics products has been well known to the public, and various industry associations have been promoting the sustainability assessment of consumer electronics products. Among them, the recyclable design of products and the promotion and use of PCR materials have promoted the consumer electronics industry in plastic recycling. Make a certain contribution. More and more consumer electronics brands have launched plans for the use of PCR materials. Taking IT equipment as an example, the IEEE Std 1680.1 standard provides guidance on the use of PCR plastics for computers, monitors and other products. There are also IEEE Std 1680.2 standards for office equipment. The use of PCR and bio-based plastics for imaging equipment such as printers is recommended. The plastic selection of large equipment such as consumer electronics and office equipment is mainly PC resin alloys, such as halogen-free flame retardant PC/ABS, PC/ABS + Talc and ABS. These products have relatively mature PCR solutions.

　　The main sources of PC recycling are buckets, car lights, CD-ROMs, etc. Taking drinking water buckets as an example, PCs used in drinking water buckets are generally blow-molded PCs with excellent impact toughness and few other decorations on the surface except labels. Therefore, PCs in drinking water buckets are relatively easy to recycle. After recycling, PCR PCs still maintain good performance and can meet the requirements of the consumer electronics industry. For PCs from CD-ROMs, the recycling process is relatively difficult, because the structure of the CD-ROMs is relatively complex. In addition to the PC substrate itself, the CD may also have other impurities such as aluminum plating, labels, and coatings. Therefore, the recovery of disc-grade PC requires a more complicated cleaning process. The recovered disc-grade PC can obtain PCR PC with good color grade due to its stable source and transparent color.

　　PCR-ABS materials for consumer electronics mainly come from dismantled parts such as home appliances and toys. After waste home appliances are collected and dismantled, their related plastic parts will enter the recycled plastic industry chain. After a series of treatments such as manual screening, cleaning, density sorting, electrostatic sorting and color sorting, high-purity PCR-ABS can be obtained, and then modified, PCR ABS products with excellent mechanical properties can be obtained.

(2) Automotive field

　　The automotive industry is an important area for plastics. In recent years, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Volvo, Renault and other automotive OEMs have also proposed the use of PCR materials. For example, Ford has established a number of standards for the use of recycled materials, and has used PCR materials in many models; Volvo claims that by 2025, Volvo cars will use recycled plastics to reach 25%. Cars have high requirements for the reliability of plastic parts, so the promotion and use of PCR plastics for automobiles is more cautious. The amount of plastic used in the car is about 168kg, of which about 101kg is used in the interior and exterior of the car, PP accounts for more than 47%, and ABS and PC alloys account for 13%.

　　The main source of PCR-PP materials for automobiles is the copolymerized PP raw materials obtained in the dismantling of home appliances. It has relatively stable impact toughness and can meet the material requirements of automotive interior and exterior trims after modification. The recycling path of PCR-PP materials for home appliance dismantling is similar to that of PCR-ABS materials for home appliance dismantling. After manual screening, cleaning, density sorting and other treatments, the corresponding PCR-PP products can be obtained.

(3) Textile industry

　　The textile industry is currently one of the most widely used industries for PCR plastics. PCR polyester and related textiles can be obtained by re-spinning PET bottles after cleaning. At present, more and more clothing brands have launched related recycled PET clothing products.

　　The recycling of PET flakes is currently one of the most stable sources of PCR plastics, due to its relatively standard source and relatively light pollution during use of recycled PET bottles. Therefore, the recycling of PET bottles can obtain high-quality recycled PET. Generally speaking, the viscosity of bottle-grade PET is higher than that of fiber-grade PET, so even if the bottle-grade PCR PET is partially degraded during the recycling process, its molecular weight can still meet the requirements of textiles, and if PCR-PET needs to be reapplied to the bottle flakes, further tackification is required.

(4) Packaging industry

　　Packaging is one of the largest markets for plastic use. Most packaging materials have a short life cycle, and the waste generated by plastic packaging is more serious than its own use of plastic. Taking European data as an example, in 2015, the demand for plastics in Europe was 49 million tons, of which the packaging industry used 39%, and from the source of plastic waste, 59% of plastic waste was plastic packaging waste. There may be greater social responsibility for plastic recycling in the packaging industry. There are also more and more packaging companies joining the plastic recycling and starting to use PCR materials. However, the packaging industry involves a relatively wide range of aspects, and the requirements of each segment are also significantly different. The use of PCR materials in the packaging industry needs to formulate a more suitable material path according to specific products.

　　The use of PCR plastics will add a sense of responsibility for protecting the environment to the brand, which will also become a highlight of brand promotion. In addition, with the increased awareness of consumers' environmental protection, many consumers are also willing to pay for PCR-packaged products.

　　Conclusion: At present, the vast majority of PCR plastic products on the market are still mainly physical recycling, and more and more chemical manufacturers are also developing and applying chemical recycling PCR plastic products. More and more downstream companies are increasing the use of PCR plastics due to policy promotion or environmental awareness.