Film Plastic in Georgia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Final Report Film Plastic in Georgia Funded by the: Georgia Department of Community Affairs No Solid Waste Trust Fund monies were used to support this project. August 2009 Final Report Film Plastic in Georgia Georgia Department of Community Affairs August 2009 This report has been prepared for the use of the client for the specific purposes identified in the report. The conclusions, observations and recommendations contained herein attributed to R. W. Beck, Inc. (R. W. Beck) constitute the opinions of R. W. Beck. To the extent that statements, information and opinions provided by the client or others have been used in the preparation of this report, R. W. Beck has relied upon the same to be accurate, and for which no assurances are intended and no representations or warranties are made. R. W. Beck makes no certification and gives no assurances except as explicitly set forth in this report. Copyright 2009, R. W. Beck, Inc. All rights reserved. Film Plastic in Georgia Georgia Department of Community Affairs Table of Contents Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures Executive Summary Section 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1-1 Section 2 SOURCES OF FILM PLASTIC IN GEORGIA ................................... 2-1 Section 3 GEORGIA’S FILM RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE .................. 3-1 Collection Programs .......................................................................................... 3-1 Processing Infrastructure................................................................................... 3-2 Reclamation Infrastructure ................................................................................ 3-4 End Use ............................................................................................................. 3-6 Pricing................................................................................................................ 3-7 Section 4 FILM PLASTIC RECYCLING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES.................................................................................................... 4-1 Residential Film Plastic Challenges and Opportunities .................................... 4-2 Commercial and Industrial Film Plastic Challenges and Opportunities ........... 4-2 Shopping Malls/Centers........................................................................... 4-3 Food Manufacturing................................................................................. 4-4 Food Stores .............................................................................................. 4-5 Hospitals/Health Facilities....................................................................... 4-6 Paper/Allied Manufacturers..................................................................... 4-7 Restaurants............................................................................................... 4-8 Section 5 STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING RECOVERY............................... 5-1 Setting Goals and Measuring Progress.............................................................. 5-1 Education and Information Programs................................................................ 5-2 Collection and Processing Infrastructure........................................................... 5-3 Market Development......................................................................................... 5-5 Potential Partnerships ........................................................................................ 5-5 Plastic Film Study Final_080609 doc Table of Contents List of Appendices Appendix A - Generator Survey Sheet Appendix B - Case Studies of Film Plastic Recovery List of Tables Table 1-1 Statewide Aggregate Landfilled MSW Composition Detail (Weight Percent)............................................................................................... 1-1 Table 2-1 Estimate of Tons of Film Plastic from Each Sector in Georgia ................. 2-1 Table 2-2 Estimated Film Plastic Disposed by Business Types in Georgia............... 2-2 Table 2-3 Estimated Film Plastic Disposed by Individual Establishment in Georgia ............................................................................................................. 2-3 Table 2-4 Identified Large Film Plastic Generators ................................................... 2-6 Table 3-1 Private Companies Handling Recovered LDPE in Georgia1 ..................... 3-3 Table 3-2 Film Reclaimers Serving Georgia .............................................................. 3-5 Table 3-3 Estimated Value of Film Plastic by Type/Source....................................... 3-7 Table 5-1 State of Georgia Commodity Recycling Goals .......................................... 5-2 List of Figures Figure 2-1 Potentially Large Generators of Film Plastic in Georgia.......................... 2-5 Figure 3-1: End Use of Film Collected for Recycling............................................... 3-6 iv R. W. Beck Plastic Film Study Final_080609 doc 8/6/09 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Georgia Statewide Waste Characterization Study, conducted for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) by R. W. Beck, Inc. in 2004-20051, indicated that film plastic comprised 7.4 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposed in the State of Georgia (State) landfills by weight, the fourth most abundant material. In that year, an estimated 497,325 tons of film plastic was disposed in State MSW landfills, worth an estimated $50 million assuming an average price of five cents per pound. To determine the potential to divert this material from disposal, DCA commissioned this study to evaluate 1) the amount and key sources of film plastic in Georgia, 2) the existing recovery infrastructure for film plastic, and 3) challenges and opportunities for recovery. Based on these findings, as well as research into approaches that have been implemented elsewhere, the report concludes with recommended strategies to increase recovery of film plastic in Georgia. Sources of Film Plastic One of the few studies that quantifies the proportion of film plastic by source is a waste composition study conducted for the California Integrated Waste Management Board in 20032. This study estimated that 24 percent of the total film plastic disposed in that State was unrecoverable trash bags (from both residents and businesses). Approximately 73.7 percent of the remaining film plastic was from business and industry while 26.3 percent was from residents. When these estimates are applied to Georgia’s 2004 estimate of 497,325 tons of film plastic per year, it is estimated that 119,358 tons is unrecoverable plastic trash bags, 278,502 tons is non-trash bag film plastic from business and industry, and 99,465 tons is non-trash bag film plastic from the residential sector. Because nearly three-quarters of the potentially recoverable (non-trash bag) film plastic disposed in the State comes from business and industry based on these data, R. W. Beck studied the likely sources of commercial and industrial film plastic in Georgia in more detail. To do this, we researched the waste composition of different business types from other studies and applied these composition data to economic data in Georgia (number of employees per business type). The results suggest that four business types may generate a total of nearly 100,000 tons of film plastic per year across the State. As shown in Table ES-1, these are business services, restaurants, food stores, and other retail trade. 1 Georgia Statewide Waste Characterization Study, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, prepared by R. W. Beck, Inc. June 2005. 2 Statewide Waste Characterization Study, California Integrated Waste Management Board, prepared by Cascadia Consulting Group, Inc. December 2004 Plastic Film Study Final_080609 doc 8/6/09 Executive Summary Table ES-1 Estimated Film Plastic Disposed by Business Types in Georgia % Film Plastic in Tons Film Rank by Tons Tons MSW/ Disposed Employees Plastic Disposed per Business Type Empl. /Yr [1] MSW [1] in GA [2] Disp/Yr. Business Type Services - Business Services 1.7 6.4% 414,936 34,762 1 Retail Trade - Restaurants 3.1 3.5% 309,779 33,611 2 Retail Trade - Food Store 2.9 4.7% 128,658 17,536 3 Retail Trade - Other 1.9 4.7% 202,341 13,913 4 [1] Based on data compiled by the California Integrated Waste Management Board during their 1999 Waste Characterization Study for disposed waste, except for restaurants, retail trade - food stores, durable goods wholesalers, hotels, and malls, which were based on a subsequent study in 2005 that separately characterized trash bags, retail bags, and other film (trash bags removed from data in this table). [2] Based on County Business Patterns (2006), with the exception of Agriculture employment, which was obtained from the Dept. of Agriculture (2002). In addition to determining which business types in the State may generate large amounts of film plastic as a whole, R. W. Beck researched which business types may have individual facilities that may generate large amounts. For example, although businesses classified as “business services” throughout Georgia are estimated to dispose of nearly 34,762 tons of film plastic a year, more than any other business type, because there are over 20,000 listed “business service” locations in the State, the average location is only estimated to dispose of 1.7 tons per year. Table ES-2 shows which ten business types are most likely to have individual locations that dispose of significant amounts of film