A new press release from the European Recycling Association (PRE) indicates that the recycling industry in southern Europe has faced the problem of the quality of the film with the secondary raw material content because of the higher proportion of degradable plastics in the waste.
A study of 1000 tonnes of equally collected waste from Northern Europe and Southern Europe revealed a significant discrepancy in the quality level in the film containing recycled materials.
According to the association, even very small amounts of degradable plastics in the raw material for recycling have a “noticeable negative impact” on the quality of secondary products.
In the course of the study, tests were carried out on industrial lines where 98/2 (at least 98% of the plastic of the claimed type) was recycled into secondary raw materials and then a 50 micron film was produced.
The analysis showed that “degradation mainly comes from substances used in the production of degradable plastics, for example, starch, polylactide and / or polybutylene adipate terephthalate.”