Key Advancements in Rubber Disposal by Teresa Clark ENSO Plastics, L.L.C
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P015_RPN20131202.qxp 11/26/2013 3:38 PM Page 1 www.rubbernews.com Rubber & Plastics News ● December 2, 2013 15 Technical Key advancements in rubber disposal By Teresa Clark ENSO Plastics, L.L.C. The author In recent years, the waste disposal Executive summary problem has spurred mounting interest The international environmental movement has not left the latex/rubber in- Teresa Clark is the co-founder and in the biodegradability of polymers, es- dustry untouched, and disposal considerations are becoming more scrutinized. vice president of ENSO Plastics, pecially when the public is voicing Most of these products are disposed of through incineration and landfill disposal. L.L.C. greater concern about protecting human For products disposed of in landfills, the persistence of these products is a point Clark is an avid environmentalist health and preserving the quality of our of concern, and a means to induce biodegradation of these materials in anaerobic with experience in microbiology, environment. conditions is necessary. chemistry, biodegradation and relat- Plastics, for instance, which became Discussed are recent advancements in technology that promote biodegradation ed environmental fields. an integral part of contemporary life, al- to assimilate these products back into the natural cycle and compare these prod- She was a featured educational ready formed a significant part of ucts to the biodegradation of natural rubber. The environmental impact of biode- speaker during wastes in municipal landfills. grading these materials (landfill gas and residual chemicals) is reviewed, as well the eighth an- as the impact of using these novel materials on a products shelf stability, nual LAPET strength and physical properties. 2010 conference TECHNICAL NOTEBOOK and 2011 Inter- Edited by Harold Herzlich national Plas- are either landfilled or are illegally more than 100,000 articles that use rub- timagen. Concerns regarding the environmen- dumped. According to a recent report of ber as a raw material.2 Clark was an tal impact of solid wastes, recycling and the U.S. Environmental Protection With the increase in demands, the instructor for composting options are expected to in- Agency (U.S EPA), this has resulted in a manufacturing and use of rubber and the College of crease as landfill capacity decreases. national stockpile of more than 2 billion the rubber products has increased Engineers in 2 Puerto Rico, Managing waste is thus a challenge fac- waste tires. tremendously both in the developed and Clark ing the global community.10 Aside from tires, rubber in its many less developed countries. The use of rub- teaching a con- This report reviews previous work on forms is used for many, many other ap- ber in so many applications results in a tinuing education class in plastic natural rubber biodegradation and a re- plications. Rubber is used in radio and growing volume of rubber waste.2 biodegradation. She also developed cent technological advancement in the television sets and in telephones. Med- The waste comes not only from dis- an educational program for middle biodegradation of synthetic rubber ma- ical and multipurpose gloves made of carded used product but also from man- school children to educate them on terials in an effort to address the ever- rubber provide a safe barrier to chemi- ufacturing. plastics and the environment, which increasing demand rubber waste puts cals and infection. For example, the latex industry ex- has been used in several private on the environment. Electric wires are made safe by rubber panded over the years to meet the world schools. insulation. Rubber forms a part of many demand for examination gloves, con- Clark has held positions within Rubber waste mechanical devices in the kitchen. doms, latex thread, etc. Due to strict sales, human resources, billing, In 2011, newspaper/mechanical pa- It helps to exclude drafts and to insu- specifications for latex products, as health care, management, restau- pers recovery was about 73 percent (7 late against noise. Sofas and chairs may much as 15 percent of the products are rant services, financial analysis and million tons), and about 57 percent of be upholstered with foam rubber cush- sometimes rejected, and these rejects staffing. She has founded several yard trimmings were recovered (Fig. 3). ions, and beds may have natural rubber create a major disposal problem for the businesses. Total MSW generation in 2011 was 250 pillows and mattresses. Clothing and rubber industry. million tons. footwear may contain rubber: e.g., elas- At the same time, there is a world- Organic materials continue to be the ticized threads in undergarments or wide demand to reduce landfill buildup emissions. largest component of MSW. Paper and shoe soles. and environmental pollution.2 Others have focused marketing efforts paperboard account for 28 percent, and Most sports equipment, virtually all The environmental movement of rub- on promoting the value of renewable yard trimmings and food waste account balls and many mechanical toys contain ber has focused in areas outside of dis- natural rubber and claims of its “inher- for another 28 percent. rubber in some or all of their parts. Still posal. Some companies, such as Styron ent biodegradability.” Plastics comprise about 13 percent; other applications have been developed Emulsion Polymers, have focused on uti- Ultimately, having an environmental- metals make up 9 percent; and rubber, due to special properties of certain types lizing renewable energy during manu- ly-sound product is becoming an impor- leather and textiles account for 8 per- of synthetic rubber, and there are now facturing to reduce greenhouse gas tant factor for an increasing number of cent. Wood follows at around 6 percent consumers; the hard part is deciding the and glass at 5 percent. best choice for your company’s needs, 13 Other miscellaneous wastes make up Fig. 1. Total municipal solid waste generation 2011 U.S. budget and planetary commitment.5 approximately 3 percent of the MSW generated in 2011.13 Waste management of rubber The figure for rubber, leather and tex- The specific focus of this paper is the tile may not seem significant, as 8.2 per- disposal and ultimate integration of rub- cent seems fairly inconsequential. How- ber materials into the natural cycle of ever, given the tremendous amount of biodegradation, an important aspect of waste produced in general, 8.2 percent any environmental approach to waste is a significant burden on the environ- disposal as it is becoming more critical ment when considered in measurements to address our solid waste as society more equitable to the impact—tons of grows and our use of rubber products ex- rubber discarded into landfills yearly. pands. Given the unique properties of rubber There are two major categories of rub- materials, the overall use of rubber for a ber: natural and synthetic. large number of applications is con- Natural rubber is extracted from rub- stantly on the rise and becoming an ber producing plants, most notably the ever-increasing focus of concern. tree Hevea brasiliensis, which origi- Rubber materials also are of increas- nates from South America. ing concern, not only in industrialized Nowadays, more than 90 percent of all countries but also in less developed na- natural rubber comes from these trees tions. in the rubber plantations of Indonesia, Rubber products are everywhere to be the Malay Peninsula and Sri Lanka. found, though few people recognize rub- The common name for this type of rub- ber in all of its applications. ber is Para rubber.1 Since 1920, demand for rubber manu- Synthetic rubbers are produced pri- facturing has been largely dependent on marily from petrochemicals. There are the automobile industry, the biggest several synthetic rubbers in production. consumer of rubber products.2 These are produced in a similar way to Most often the image that comes to plastics, by a chemical process known as mind when the words “environment” polymerization. They include neoprene, and “rubber” are spoken together con- Buna rubbers and butyl rubber. jures the thought of automotive tires. Synthetic rubbers usually have been About 242 million tires are discarded developed with specific properties for every year in the U.S. alone. Less than 7 specialist applications. percent are recycled. The synthetic rubbers commonly used Eleven percent are incinerated for for tire manufacture are styrene-butadi- their fuel value, and another 5 percent ene rubber and butadiene rubber (both are exported. The remaining 78 percent See Rubber, page 16 P016_RPN20131202.qxp 11/26/2013 3:36 PM Page 1 16 Rubber & Plastics News ● December 2, 2013 www.rubbernews.com Technical posing of in the open environment) of tresses occupy up to 23 cubic feet of biodegradation. They pose threats to the rubber; however in most societies, this is landfill space for each mattress. All nat- ecosystems they contaminate and accu- Rubber not an acceptable or legal means to dis- ural latex mattresses are made of 100 mulate within the environment. pose of any waste materials, percent plant derivatives, which make Biodegradative activities in natural Continued from page 15 Rubber recovery for recycling can be a them biodegradable.5 material and energy cycling constitute members of the Buna family). Butyl rub- difficult process. There are many rea- • Very thin rubber products, such as one of the most important processes in ber, since it is gas-impermeable, is com- sons, however, why rubber should be re- balloons and condoms, will degrade nat- water, sediment, soil and other ecosys- monly used for inner tubes.1 claimed or recovered:1 urally, especially if they are subjected to tems in processing waste materials, or- With the significant volume of rubber • Recovered rubber can cost half that natural sunlight. As is evident from the ganic recycling. Non-biodegradable mate- waste, it is critical to identify proper of natural or synthetic rubber.