Extrusion Asia Edition 2-2019

33 Extrusion Asia Edition 2/2019 conditions would be the same for everyone then. It would take perhaps three years for us in Europe and also in Germany to suddenly have a completely different recycling industry. So it can’t be done without political guidelines? Reifenhäuser : Politics is necessary because plastic waste is a problem for society as a whole. One group alone can't do much about it. It's about being aware that you can’t just throw rub- bish away. What can mechanical engineering do to help? Reifenhäuser : Mechanical engineering can support the pro- cess of sustainable plastics management. As a manufacturer of machines for processing plastics, we develop resource-efficient processes which allow a reduced use of plastics. One example is using thinner films that have the same protective properties as thicker ones. We also develop machines that produce products with no waste at all. All waste from production is immediately recycled. All these measures concern production. Regarding use, mechanical engineering provides all the technologies which enable plastic waste to be recycled. Some plastic waste is difficult to recycle. What should you do? Reifenhäuser : Recyclability must be taken into account from the very beginning, as early as the product design stage. Today, various materials are often incorporated into a product without any real necessity. This limits its recyclability. Some plastics are not compatible with each other when being recycled. It’s not the case that you can always make a new, usable product from different plastics. The chemical industry is a key player in the further development of recyclability, but the requirements pla- ced on a plastics product often have to be reduced as well. For example, barrier layers are currently integrated into the films used to package cheese, which extend its shelf life. The barrier layers are extremely difficult to separate and thus to recycle. If the barrier layers were to be reduced below five percent, the shelf life might also be reduced, but the films could be recycled much more easily. In any case, the question arises as to whether cheese needs to be kept for several weeks or even months. Are plastics processors obliged to do this? Reifenhäuser : The brand owners have to stipulate that certain plastics products may only be used for certain applications. This is already happening today, but it will take a while for it to be enforced. In any case, mechanical engineering is not the bottleneck. Also, legal requirements often still hinder the use of recycled material. Scandinavian countries have taken a different approach by choosing to focus on incinerating plastic waste. Reifenhäuser : Incineration is a quite good secondary use. The- re have been no landfills in northern Europe for quite some time. The focus is very much on waste incineration there. In order to incinerate waste, and we’re talking about all non-recy- clable household waste, and generate energy from the incine- ration process at the same time, you need fuel. If you reach the firing temperatures with used plastics, you have two advan- 为什么循环经济对塑料很重要？ Ulrich Reifenhäuser : 塑料废料的课题越来越重要，因为 垃圾量正在增加。 这是由于全球人口不断增长，许多新兴经 济体日益繁荣。 废料堆积如山，特别是在亚洲。 我们在欧洲 也有这个问题。 在斯堪的纳维亚、荷兰、德国、奥地利和瑞 士，回收率确实很高，但另一方面，在地中海国家，回收率 却相当差。 因此，很明显，塑料世界需要改变。 目前正在进 行讨论，但这一点在废物管理部门尚未引起足够注意。 为什么会这样？ Reifenhäuser : 这是一个非常复杂的多层次问题。并且是 矛盾的。塑料是有着广泛用途的理想材料。 它们重量轻、易 于加工、相对便宜并且有足够的数量可以提供。 由于这些好处，它们对竞争材料的重要性在不断增加。这是 积极的方面。 但是，塑料通常在使用后不能被正确处理。 他 们没有被收集，而是被扔掉了。 这是消极的方面，是即将到 来的真正的主要问题。 你怎么能改变整个国家消费者的行为？ Reifenhäuser : 通过教育和唤起消费者的责任感。 立法 也是一个很好的方法。 重视塑料废料的附加价值极为重要。 这是需要从政治角度来考虑的问题。 这里最好的策略是为新 塑料产品设定回收配额。 如果配额适当，塑料加工商将很快 需要回收的材料。 这将开辟一个新的市场。 很可能高质量的 再生材料成本是全新产品的两倍，但是在塑料产品方面，价 格翻倍并不会产生任何影响，因为它们的性能远远优于玻 璃、金属或纸等其他材料。 但终端消费者正在关注着每一分钱 ？ Reifenhäuser : 的确如此，但如果法律规定所有塑料产品 都需要含30％的再生材料，那就不再是问题了。 那么每个人 的先决条件都是一样的。 我们在欧洲和德国可能需要三年才 能实现拥有一个完全不同的回收行业。 所以没有政治指导方针就不可能做到这一点？ Reifenhäuser : 政治是必要的，因为塑料废料是整个社会 的问题。 仅靠一个群体对此无能为力。社会公众需要意识 到：你不能只是扔掉垃圾。 从机械工程的角度可以做些什么来帮助实现这一目标？ Reifenhäuser : 机械工程可以为可持续塑料管理过程提供 支持。 作为塑料加工机器的制造商，我们开发了资源节约型 工艺，可以减少塑料的使用。 一个例子是使用较薄的膜替代 厚膜，但具有与厚膜相同的保护性能。 我们还开发生产完全 不产生浪费产品的机器。 生产中的所有废物都会立即回收。 所有这些措施都已经投入了生产。在使用方面，机械工程提 供了实现塑料废料可回收的所有技术。 一些塑料废物难以回收。你该怎么办？ Reifenhäuser : 从产品设计阶段开始，必须一开始就考虑 可回收性。如今，通常将各种材料结合到产品中，而没有任 何真正的必要性。这对其可回收性产生了限制。一些塑料在 回收时彼此不相容。，有人始终认为可以使用不同的塑料制 造新的、可用的产品，但事实并非如此。化学工业是进一步 发展可回收性的关键因素，但对塑料产品的要求通常也必须 降低。例如，目前用于包装奶酪的薄膜中都应用了阻隔层， 这延长了奶酪保质期。但阻隔层极难分离，并因此难以再回 收利用。如果要将阻隔层降低到5％以下，则保质期也可能会