Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) has reported that the quality of recycled films is negatively impacted by degradable plastics from southern Europe. A trial was done on 1,000 t of equally purchased qualities of waste from northern and southern European suppliers. Substantial discrepancies were seen in the quality of recycled films produced from the different waste.

Tests were performed on lines that produced recycled plastics from 98/2 post-consumer quality waste (PE films containing 98% natural and 2% coloured material), which was then converted them into films of 50-micron thickness. Extrusion worked as normal with recycled plastics coming from northern Europe, whereas analysis showed that holes and specks occurred regularly in films produced with recycled waste coming from southern Europe. In addition, abrasions of the supply lines turned out to be a useful indicator since they are batch-independent. Film samples were analysed using multiple techniques, including gas chromatography mass spectrometry, in order to understand the defects of the recycled films.

The results showed that degradation is largely due to substances used in production of degradable plastics, including starch, polylactic acid (PLA) and polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT). PRE could conclude that there is a big impact on the functionality of recycled plastics coming from southern European films waste and, therefore, it is necessary to develop separate streams for bio-waste and degradable plastics. This can ensure that degradable plastics do not enter conventional plastics waste streams. Although production of thick-walled (>50 micron) recycled products from highly contaminated material is possible, it will heavily impact the appearance of the films.