Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, has announced that it is launching Rethink+, a digital waste management platform. The platform is a plastics takeback program that aims to prevent postconsumer plastic scrap from going to landfills. According to a news release from Dow, the platform connects users with waste generators, waste aggregators, waste processors and recyclers.

Dow reports that it collaborated with India's Recykal, a technology company providing cloud-based solutions for the waste management and recycling industry, as well as Keshav Sita Memorial Foundation Trust, a nongovernmental organization in the waste management industry.

Through a mobile app, participants in Rethink+ will list their recyclables and either schedule a collection or drop off items at designated collection centers, earning reward points for online vouchers and each completed transaction. The plastic scrap collected through Rethink+ is streamlined to different recycling processes such as upcycling and pyrolysis. Dow reports that this new initiative is in line with its sustainability targets to “Stop the Waste” by enabling 1 million metric tons of plastic to be collected, reused or recycled through its actions and partnerships.

Dow reports that Rethink+ was piloted in Pune, Maharashtra, earlier this year. According to Dow, the pilot program proved to be successful, with 810 metric tons of plastic scrap collected in five months. Rethink+ will continue to facilitate the collection of plastic scrap in Pune, while expanding the program to multiple cities across India.

“The results of the pilot program have been outstanding, but we are just getting started. We are thrilled to be able to extend Rethink+ to more cities in India and encourage the public to recycle more through increased awareness, education and dedicated infrastructure,” says Bambang Candra, Asia Pacific commercial vice president of Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “With Recykal’s technology and expertise in local waste management, and the support of Keshav Sita Memorial Foundation Trust, we are committed to bringing more consumers and partners onboard to advance a circular economy for plastics in India and Asia Pacific.”

Infrastructure for the collection, separation and recycling of postconsumer scrap received through Rethink+ were built to ensure that the collected materials are channeled to authorized recyclers, road contractors and waste-to-fuel (or pyrolysis) facilities.

“We are excited to be working with Dow India, a leader in plastics technology, to provide a platform for individuals, brand owners, manufacturers, waste collectors and recyclers to collectively manage plastic waste by utilizing their strengths in the recycling journey,” says Abhay Deshpande, founder of Recykal. “We all have the same goal, which is to save the environment. With Rethink+, we hope to connect the waste value chain through innovative technology and data solutions and change the way India recycles its plastic waste.”

Additionally, Keshav Sita Memorial Foundation Trust has been creating awareness about the harmful effects of plastic when it ends up in the waste stream. The organization is educating individuals by setting up collection points at residences, schools and retailers as part of Rethink+. Dow reports that this collection has continued even during COVID-19 with some extra hygiene practices and precautions put into place.

Through UZED, a consumer app created by Recykal, consumers can dispose of recyclable plastic scrap responsibly. Dow says app users should register under “Rethink+ Plastic Takeback Program.” The recyclables included are listed on the app and it allows users to schedule for doorstep pickup of materials as well as scheduling drop off of materials at collection centers.

SSI Shredding Systems Inc., Wilsonville, Oregon, has updated its Pri-Max primary reducer shredder to include new technologies and features that decrease maintenance costs and improve ease of use. The Pri-Max primary reducer shredder is built to reduce the volume of bulky materials while achieving processing rates of up to 150 tons per hour. According to SSI, the shredder can be incorporated into a system as a primary shredder or used as a stand-alone machine. SSI offers multimaterial reducers that range from 200 horsepower to 600 horsepower.

“SSI continually monitors customer feedback and uses it as the catalyst for product innovation,” says Dave Fleming, director of sales and marketing at SSI. “Pri-Max machines are typically the first step in large processing systems, making them a critical component to customer productivity and success.”

In 2018, SSI began to engineer new technology for maintenance and replacement of wear parts. “Customers wanted longer service intervals and more flexibility in how they could choose to maintain wear parts in their machines,” Fleming says.

SSI reports that its patented “cartridge” table allows the entire wear parts package to be replaced without the need to remove the drive group, bearings or hydraulic connections. Regular hardfacing can be accomplished in the machine or offline as the customer chooses. According to a news release from SSI, this design reduces the time required for service and related downtime.

SSI adds that the heavy-duty, open grate cutting table and strategic cutter placement ensure that abrasives, including aggregate, sand, soils and metal fragments fall directly through the cutting table, reducing wear and operating costs. The extra heavy-duty welded cutting table is available in a variety of configurations to control output size and performance.

Additionally, SSI reports that it has added a new “stackable shaft” design for its Pri-Max machines to allow cutters and spacers to easily slide off the fully welded shafts on the shredders. SSI says these parts can now be replaced while reusing the shafts. This also allows the entire machine to be configurable if material or output needs change. SSI reports that the bidirectional cutters grab, pierce and break materials. They can be hardfaced or tips can be replaced inside the machine or offline as needed.

“These machines have always been popular. We are excited to offer both new and existing customers the ability to have these new features that will reduce the time needed to exchange wear parts, reduce the cost of the parts themselves and simplify the process of working on the machine in general,” Fleming says.

Troy University, based in Troy, Alabama, has received a $3.5 million federal grant to help fund its research and development of methods to recycle personal protective equipment (PPE).

The production, sale and use of PPE, most commonly face masks, gloves and their packaging, has escalated in 2020 in reaction to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Established medical waste companies such as Stericycle have been increasing their attention to the proper handling of PPE, although not necessarily focusing on recycling.

The Troy University center receiving the funding has traditionally focused on polymers and plastics research and recycling.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded Troy’s Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences (CMMS) a three-year grant, which the university says is the third NIST grant awarded to the CMMS.

“The first two NIST grants were to set up the lab, and this one is to fund particular research projects,” says Dr. Govind Menon, director of Troy’s School of Science and Technology. “We are entering into the academic research phase of the center. This $3.5 million goes directly to research projects.”

The funding will allow TROY to hire four staff members to focus solely on research. “These are not faculty,” says Menon. “They’re here to do research and only research.”

Menon said the CMMS research, performed in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Engineering, will aim to establish a full procedure, from decontamination to applications of the resulting materials, to recycle discarded PPE.

“We have already started the PPE part of the research, and we are beginning our analysis on how to reuse the materials,” Menon said. “This is certainly important with the pandemic in mind, but it’s relevant even beyond the pandemic. Medical PPE is something people have been afraid to touch, largely because of contamination. This is absolutely vital research, otherwise the waste generated by PPE will be enormous, in addition to existing waste.”

Founded in 2018 with support from the NIST, Troy University describes the CMMS as a fully integrated multi-disciplinary research facility focusing on research into polymers and polymer recycling.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a draft of its National Recycling Strategy for public input preparation for America Recycles Week and ahead of the nation’s third annual Recycling Summit.

According to a news release from the EPA, the draft identifies strategic objectives and actions needed to create “a stronger, more resilient U.S. municipal solid waste recycling system.”

“Over the last two years, we’ve heard from our partners about the challenges facing our nation’s recycling system, and in particular for municipal solid waste recycling,” says EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Our strategy aims to move recycling in America forward by identifying actions that all of us—governments, nonprofits, private industry and the public—can take together.”

The EPA says its National Recycling Strategy draft was developed as part of its continued leadership in addressing the challenges facing the U.S. recycling system and builds on the EPA’s 2019 National Framework for Advancing the U.S. Recycling System. EPA says its strategy organizes high-level actions around three objectives to improve the U.S. recycling system, including:

• reducing contamination;
• increasing processing efficiency; and
• improving end markets.

EPA has shared its National Recycling Strategy draft for public comment through Dec. 4, with the goal of finalizing it in early 2021.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, has announced that it has submitted comments to the EPA regarding this draft. In its comments, ISRI focuses on ensuring the goals and metrics developed by the EPA are clear and consistent with the current structure of the recycling industry so that recyclers may achieve economic development and job creation through enhanced manufacturer demand for recycled materials that come from a strengthened recycling system.

According to a news release from ISRI, the association is encouraging the EPA to incorporate systemwide recycling measures to assess recycling performance in its National Recycling Strategy draft. ISRI says the most effective measurement for the recycling system’s resiliency is gauging whether materials successfully pass through recycling and are consumed by manufacturers.

ISRI also has encouraged the EPA to focus its National Recycling Strategy on reducing contamination in the recycling stream. ISRI says it believes an EPA-directed, nationwide education and awareness campaign would be the “most effective means” to improving consumer understanding of the steps that need to be taken to enhance recycling and reduce contamination.

Additionally, ISRI has advised the EPA to include details on increasing material processing efficiency. ISRI says processing efficiency will improve through the amount of material that successfully passes through operations, correlating with a decline in materials sent to landfill.

Regarding end markets, ISRI tells the EPA that “recycled content … is the strongest for monitoring changes in market demand for recycled materials through changes in the amount of recycled materials that are incorporated into new products.”  

Click here to read the National Recycling Strategy and provide comments.