Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Plastics News
  • Plastics News China
SustainablePlasticsFINAL
Subscribe
  • Login
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Recycling
    • Sustainability
    • Bioplastics
    • Technology & Materials
    • Enespa, Biofabrik to build industrial-scale chemical recycling facility
      Amcor, McKinsey.org are ‘Rethinking Recycling’ in Latin America
      Nylon sorting made easy
      Plastic pallet recycling scheme celebrates second anniversary
    • A fast casual gets serious about the environment
      Value chain collaboration yields new circular packaging solution
      Circa Group successfully completes NOK 575 million private placement
      Arburg publishes its first Sustainability Report online
    • Assets Bio-on S.p.A. up for auction
      Bio-Fed and Febo S.p.A. expand distribution agreement
      RenCom launches production of new lignin-based biomaterial
      SP Group, Nurel Biopolymers develop food-contact approved compostable barrier film structures
    • Injection Moulding
    • Blow Moulding
    • Extrusion
    • Thermoforming
    • 3D printing
    • Technology
    • Materials
    • Machinery
  • Opinion
    • View Point
    • PHA: As green as it gets
      Opinion: The future of sustainable plastic
      A year to remember
      Opinion: California introduces world’s toughest plastic bottle recycling legislature – will other markets follow?
  • Events
    • Our Exhibitions
    • Plastics Industry Awards (PIA)
    • Ask the Expert
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Plastics News Europe Live Archives
    • Plastics Recycling Show Europe
  • Prices & Resources
    • Polymer Prices
    • Data Reports
    • White Papers
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Media Pack
  • Subscribe
  • Digital magazine
    • Digital Magazine
  • Multimedia
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
February 26, 2018 06:00 AM

Plastics recycler backs landfilling versus incineration

Plastic News Europe
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Axion Polymer Ltd

    As debate heats up within the industry over waste management policies, following a ban by China on scrap imports, UK plastics recycler Axion Polymers Ltd has backed the option of landfilling plastics materials.

    Commenting on the issue, Keith Freegard, director Axion Polymers, said “landfilling, rather than incineration, might be the better option.”

    According to Freegard, China's crackdown on imports of contaminated recyclables is leading to “an ever-increasing stockpile of waste plastics materials worldwide.”

    “Tackling this problem waste stream will probably lead to increased incineration of waste to produce energy as the ‘best' solution,” Freegard pointed out.

    This, noted the official, could be “an attractive option”.

    “But when the carbon produced by that process taken into account, is it really the best environmental solution?” he added.

    Creating energy from waste produces between 25% to 30% residual incinerator bottom ash (IBA), which according to Freegard still requires waste disposal or long-term storage.

    “Although generating heat and power from waste sounds appealing, it is inefficient when compared to burning gas in a modern generator system. Burning natural gas also produces fewer emissions and there is nil solid ash waste to dispose of,” he added.

    Axion suggests use of term "sky-fill" for plastics incineration

    Also impacting the environment will be the carbon release from waste incineration, with lower efficiency rates compared to alternative sources of power generation.

    “Using the CO2 metric alone suggests that it makes more sense to bury large amounts of plastic in a long-term ‘carbon sink' in the ground and efficiently combust natural gas to satisfy our immediate power needs,” the Axion director added.

    Referring to the high environmental cost of ‘free carbon release', the Axion official, suggested that the term such as “sky-fill” could be used for end-of-life waste incineration technology, to compare it with the alternative ‘land-fill' disposal route for plastics.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Sustainable Plastics' news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe

    Subscriptions to Sustainable Plastics, the leading Pan-European magazine for the circular plastics industry are coming soon.

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    "In a changing world, Sustainable Plastics is a constant: a platform the plastics industry can rely on to deliver the news and knowhow impacting the industry going forward”

    SustainablePlasticsFINAL
    Contact Us

    11 Ironmonger Lane, EC2V 8EY
    United Kingdom 
     

    Customer Service:
    1-313-446-0450

    [email protected]

     

    Resources
    • Advertise
    • Sitemap
    • Careers
    • Subscribe
    Affiliates
    • Plastics News
    • Plastics News China
    • LSR World
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Tire Business
    • Rubber & Plastics News
    • Automotive News
    • Automotive News Europe
    • Crain Publications
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Recycling
      • Sustainability
      • Bioplastics
      • Technology & Materials
        • Injection Moulding
        • Blow Moulding
        • Extrusion
        • Thermoforming
        • 3D printing
        • Technology
        • Materials
        • Machinery
    • Opinion
      • View Point
    • Events
      • Our Exhibitions
        • Plastics Recycling Show Europe
      • Plastics Industry Awards (PIA)
      • Ask the Expert
      • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Plastics News Europe Live Archives
    • Prices & Resources
      • Polymer Prices
      • Data Reports
      • White Papers
    • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Media Pack
    • Subscribe
    • Digital magazine
      • Digital Magazine
    • Multimedia