Aspects of chemical recycling of complex plastic waste via the gasification route

Oxygen blown high-temperature gasification constitutes an opportunity for chemical recycling of plastic wastes. This article summarizes the results from comparative tests of combustion and gasification of two complex plastic wastes: a plastic reject (PR) from processing recycled paper and an automotive shredder residue (ASR). Calculated gasification efficiencies corresponded to about 80% and 60%, respectively. Gasification resulted in lower yields of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) compared to direct combustion. A two-stage process, including gasification followed by syngas combustion, reduced the emissions of HCl and PCDD/F in the flue gas to <1.4% and <0.2%, respectively, compared to the levels from direct combustion of the PR feedstock. Most of the PCDD/F (>99%) was captured along with particulate matter (soot) during gasification. The contribution to the toxic concentration of PCDD/F was mainly from the PCDF congeners. Fly ash particulate matter from ASR combustion contained a significant proportion of zinc, which thus constitutes a great potential for use in zinc recycling.