Recycling plastic bags into fuel oil - A new direction for waste management
Thứ hai, ngày 10 tháng 06 năm 2013 cập nhật lúc 05:54
According to the latest statistics recently announced by the Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, there is 7,000 tons of garbage collected every day in Ho Chi Minh City, among which 70-80 tons are plastic waste. This means that on average, the city dwellers use 5-9 million plastic bags each day. Notably, only 40% of the total amount of collected garbage is recycled into compost, while the rest is buried. This is a very difficult problem to Ho Chi Minh City as land is one the most important assets of the city. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has requested the government for permission to impose high tariffs on plastic bags, from 150% to 200%, to discourage consumers to use plastic bags. However, the facilities producing these products have yet to be put under strict control, both in quality and quantity.
Mr. Ho Tuan Kiet, Head of the Business Department of Saigon Cultural Material Company (Vafaco) - one of the first companies certified by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to produce biodegradable plastic bags, said that the production of biodegradable plastic bag have been started for almost 2 years, yet its current market share is very small. Mostly used in supermarkets and other major commercial centers, its usage is hardly seen in traditional markets. The reason is partly the cost of biodegradable plastic bag, which is about 15% higher than normal one. The small traders in traditional markets still prefer to use poor-quality bags, which cost only around VND 16,000-25,000/kg. In addition, the convenient psychology also makes people tend to ignore the environmental-friendly products available on the market.
While the authorities were stuck with the people’s habit of using plastic bags, Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment One Member Limited Company has invested in a project on recycling plastic bags into fuel oil. This is an essential task, as recycling plastic bags into fuel oil not only helps generate environmental-friendly oils but also helps reduce waste and increase waste decomposition efficiency.
It is worth mentioning that this production process is quite simple. Raw nylon does not need to be cleaned after the collecting and sorting procedures. It can be transferred directly to the incineration and pyrolysis procedures to become fuel oil. Currently, the company is using waste of raw nylon (the amount of nylon collected every day) for the production.
Mr. Huynh Minh Nhut, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment One Member Limited Company, said that the company has bought two incinerators to recycle polymer-derived plastic bags, with a total capacity of 15 tons/day. The initial productivity was positive, about 6,000 liters of fuel oil. This oil can be used as fuel for production plants. From now until the end of the year, another 10 incinerators will be purchased to increase the incinerating capacity to 75 tons/day. By then, apart from using raw nylon as production material, the company will ask the city for permission to reopen the closed landfills such as Go Cat and Dong Thanh to collect plastic.
The successful production of fuel oil from nylon has opened a new direction for waste management. In the long run, it will help improve the environment of the areas surrounding landfills which is facing serious pollution caused by extended garbage dumping operation of the city. In the immediate future, the amount of waste being recycled into environmental-friendly products will increase, along with a reduction of landfill waste.
Mai Chi
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