Speaker interviews: Plastics Recycling World Expo North America

The countdown has begun! With less than a month to go, we are thrilled to soon open our doors to the Plastics Recycling World Expo in Cleveland!

We've been hard at work gathering insightful interviews with our esteemed speakers. Join us for our free-to-attend conference sessions, featuring technical talks, industry debates, and market forecasts.

The full interviews are available to read here, but here’s a quick preview:

Roger, How important is tracking in the plastics recycling industry? How can digital tools optimize the tracking process?

Tracking is essential in plastics recycling to build trust and improve efficiency. There are two key challenges: the perception that plastics aren’t being recycled and the need to improve the recycling supply chain. Digital tools like Diversys can enhance transparency by mapping the entire process, from collection to remanufacture, ensuring materials are tracked accurately through each step. When used properly, these tools reduce manual errors and increase accountability, showing that plastics are not only being recycled but done so efficiently. By minimizing material loss and improving handovers between parties, digital solutions can strengthen collaboration across the supply chain, ultimately driving better sustainability outcomes.

Scott, including recyclate in packaging, especially in food-contact materials, is often seen as a challenge. How can recyclers act to ensure that their recyclate is used in equivalent value products? Is some amount of downcycling an inevitability?

We do not agree with the use of the term "downcycling" in principle. In our opinion, if the recycled content is used to reduce or displace the purchase of virgin polymer, then it has served its highest environmental purpose. For example, KW manufactures paint pails from recycled PP food containers. If our current raw material stream goes back into food, we will simply buy virgin resin to make our paint pails, meaning no environmental benefit has been accomplished. The same applies to agricultural pipe using detergent bottles or flower pots made from detergent bottles. If we can successfully grow the collection stream of HDPE and PP containers, then new markets will be needed to consume that new supply. .

Giorgio, can you explain the importance of high-quality granulation systems to the recycling process?

Granulation is the most critical phase in plastics recycling. The granulator is a machine that represents a small fraction of the investment to set up a recycling line, but can literally make it or break it for the performance of the entire plant. Not only must the level of reliability and dependability be the highest, but the quality of the ground plastic – particularly in terms of dimensional uniformity and the proportion of small particles – is also crucial. A CMG granulator produces no more than 3% small particles, (ie particles with dimensions under 3mm), compared to the 15-20% typically produced conventional granulators.

Alessandro, how big of a problem is residual humidity in the extrusion process? What effect does it have and what can be done to combat it?

Customers primarily want to reduce processing costs in all areas. Developing and implementing extrusion lines to meet the demands of today. To include material temperature control, heating and cooling on the same central screw, high levels of de-volitation, wide processing tolerances, and continuous processing are all part of the requirements on machine manufactures today. Sustainability also plays a big role in the demands of today.

Zach, how does rigid plastic packaging fit into a circular packaging economy and how does it compare to other materials such as metal and glass?

Rigid plastic packaging, like thermoforms, plays a critical role in the circular packaging economy. Thermoforms have immense utility across a variety of applications. They touch our lives daily, from preserving the food we serve our families to protecting the medical devices we trust to save lives. Given their lightweight nature and relatively low energy requirements to produce and transport, plastic packaging has lower greenhouse gas emissions per package than alternatives like metal and glass. When you factor in preservation attributes, such as extending the useful life of perishable foods, thermoformed packaging offers significant benefits to society. However, we must improve end-of-life outcomes for all packaging formats, including thermoforms, to advance circularity. We need solutions that keep thermoforms circulating in our economy so we can continue to reap their benefits. .

Henrik, how do the properties of plastic change during the recycling process?

Generally, the properties of recycled plastics are poorer due to degradation that occurs during the product's lifetime and also during the recycling process. The molecular weight is typically reduced, especially if exposed to many processing steps or multiple recycling loops, which results in lower viscosities and reduced mechanical performance. This imposes significant restrictions on the applications for which recycled materials can be used, consequently affecting the value of recycled plastics.

Gordan, what major problems are currently facing recyclers and how can developments in machinery address these?

There are many different challenges facing recycling in the North American market. These include the collection and availability of feedstock, as well as contamination and multi-layered materials. While governments, brand owners, and waste collectors work on providing more access to recycling for consumers (curbside, deposits, EPR, etc.), we at AMUT are addressing the issues of contamination and efficiency. In order to allow convenience-oriented consumers, such as those in North America, to have quick and easy access to recycling, AMUT understands that more contamination is likely. To that end, AMUT has the technology to sort out recyclables from non-recyclables, even from basic collections. AMUT’s washing technology will also clean and prepare a recycled product according to each customer’s specifications, even achieving food-grade quality if required. With the rise of multi-layered products, AMUT’s current and new technologies are working to separate those materials with a high degree of success, allowing those products to remain in the recycling stream.