Some things are very difficult to recycle. Most of the time, leftover waste will end up in landfills or incinerators. This is where the “Plasma Gasification Process (PGP)” comes in. The process offers a zero waste solution to converting garbage to a clean synthetic gas and other products to make electricity, fertilizer, construction material, salt and clean water.
PGP is a thermal process that involves the application of intense heat to waste materials in a completely closed, controlled, and oxygen-starved environment. This process converts waste materials into a clean synthetic gas and heat that can be used to generate electricity. This is not an incineration process because no burning occurs.
There are three products produced by PGP. The main product of the process is a synthetic gas produced when the volatile elements in the waste material are reduced to their base molecules. This gas is used to generate electricity by feeding it into the same type of gas engine used in the production of electricity from natural gas.
The second product of the process is heat which produces steam. The steam is collected and fed into the electricity generation process to improve its efficiency.
The third and final product of the process is a glass-like reusable solid (otherwise known as slag) that is produced when the non-volatile elements of the waste material decompose. As hard and clean as glass, this solid has a variety of uses such as a road or building material additive. The solid does not react with other elements and leaches less than the glass from a common soda bottle.
The PGP system can process any waste stream such as: MSW (Municipal Solid Waste), biomedical waste and spent potliner, a granular waste from aluminum smelting, biomass, oil shale, automobile fluff, lead contaminated soils, municipal sewage sludge, paint sludge, drum reconditioning sludge, organic petrochemical sludge, illicit drugs, high metal content waste, coal and MSW incinerator ashes, paper mill reject waste, fluorescent light ballasts, asbestos containing material, explosives industry waste, rubber tires and industrial hazardous wastes including PCBs and concentrated insecticides.
There is virtually no limit to the amount of waste which can be processed. The PGP system is particularly adaptable to designing total systems around a multiple processing string approach. The string size for waste streams such as MSW can be up to 200 metric tons per day with multiple plasma arc generator heating systems per string. The optimum string size for other types of waste is dictated by the characteristics of the waste itself.
There are no emissions from the PGP system. Air emissions are limited to those produced in the exhaust from operation of the engines or turbines which use the syngas to generate electricity, and meet or better all Canadian or European standards per kwh of electricity produced.
Currently, no other technology generates as much power from a tonne of waste and no other technology has lower emissions per watt of generated power. A current PGP conversion plant can generate up to 1.2 MWh of electricity per tonne of waste – enough to power an average household for 50 days.
To learn more about Zero Waste projects that currently use or plan to use plasma gasification process as part of waste management strategy, go to http://zerowasteottawa.com and http://zerowastevancouver.com/
Help answer the question about construction waste recycling
How can I recycle plastic bags to make building bricks?
We have a lot of waste plastic bags and am wondering if I can recycle them to make building bricks. There is one or two companies in my location recycling the same to make fencing poles, but I would like to manufacture huge quantities of hardened brings for building, Road construction etc. By doing this, I will be resolving a very big environmental problem as well as creating jobs and some income.
I would like to know the technology involved and if there is a company involved in what I have in mind and is preparing to either go into partnership with me or help me in setting up such a factory..
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we have designed and manufactured these mahines,they are exported to many contres!
Such a thing doesn't exist for private people.
I'm a gardener and, I immediately thought of this plastic being used for green housing and/or cold framing. Do you have a local P-Patch or community garden, Land Grant school extension office/service, high school or community college horticultural program, active garden club?
I don't know one plastic from the next without touching it and feeling it. But, is this the type used to cover ground under a house as the ground level vapor barrier? If so, do you have a Habitat for Humanity chapter in your area? 2000 feet is quite a bit until you look at a larger scale project. On the other hand, I'm sure it would cost a pretty penny to buy.
Do you know about freecycle.org? It is an international, Yahoo Group sponsored, board broken up into regional chapters for the free posting of items being offered and taken for free. It's initial concept was, and remains, to keep items from going to the landfill.
A number of communities have some type of business based exchange for business waste and/or donation to local agencies and schools. Often, it is primarily for chemicals and "hazardous waste".
There is another organization called something like recycle911 that lists recycling opportunities in most communities. I'm betting that if I've gotten it wrong, that someone else will answer with the correct 911 address.
The typical red brick is fired at about 1000°C so the plastic would burn so that would only change the sate of your waste from solid to gas, generating a different type of pollution
you must be talking about building bricks based on a mixture of sand and portland cement. you would need to find a way to shred the plastic, to small pieces, preferably not stripes.
Then you would have to do a series of tests to investigate the amount of plastic you can add to a brick to maintain mechanical resistance.
One possible advantage would be that the permeability (water penetration) would be improved. Not to mention savings in the usage of natural resources like sand, which althouhg is a very abundant resource, its mining has consequences in the habitats of some species.
Other than the public transit jobs, all of these are minimum wage jobs. Another fine solution for poverty brought to you by the liberal green agenda…
Polyethylene sheeting is used for vapor barriers in houses (usually between the gypsum board and the framing) and under concrete slabs. Usually in 6-, 8- or 10-mil thicknesses. The presence of a polyurethane layer would not be a problem in that application. But a 5-foot width is less useful. Walls are usually 8-foot high so 8+ feet is more useful as a width. Unless you can find someone building short walls. Use under concrete is more likely. Simply overlapping it a foot would serve the purpose.
Here's a possibly better use for it: gardening. A variety of crops (tomatoes, etc) do better when tented under clear tarps. (a hole is cut for the plant to grow through). It retains the soil moisture and warms up the ground under the tarp. Another gardening use would be a to cover crops when a freeze is possible.
The 5-foot width pretty good for that use. If you have a lot of that material, a commercial grower might be interested.
I'm breaking down you're entire question, cause I'm open-minded.
1) Using trees to create construction materials creates income, jobs, and allows new growth of timber to come in and keep the ecosystem they are growing on in balance. Also, 90% of the ares where plantations of yellow pine are located did not use to be forested. They were cotton plantations, but then later converted in forest plantations after thousands of acres of cotton were lost to an insect, which completely ruined the economy for cotton. It does more good for the environment by keeping trees growing there for 25 years, then cutting them down for materials. Plus, in pines, trees only do the most efficient work at collecting and storing carbon during their young years. The older they get, the less absorbing they do. So which is better?
2) Recycled cargo containers are an awesome idea, one which I may even pursue when I go to build my first home. However, building codes and such in the United States would have to be completely rewritten in order to support recycled cargo containers. Plus, the developers (who really put a lot of money and investment into the economy) would lose, and we would be in an even worse hell than we are now I believe.
3) Pallets are not necessarily the best building material you can use. Even though it would be good to recycle them for building, that is not what pallets were designed for. Pallet material comes off of the slabs of the logs, which is mostly sap-wood which is younger and not strong compared to the heart-wood which 2×4's and such come from. You endanger lives when you use sap-wood for building material. Notice how it's not long before pallets break apart and wither away?
Visit API's recycling website
and check out the Recycled Polyurethane Market's
Database to find a seller or buyer of recycled
polyurethanes. Additionally, Websites such as epa.gov and
earth911.org are available to help you find recycling cen-
ters for many polyurethane materials. Your State
Environmental Agency's Website also may have programs
in place for recycling your polyurethane waste.
On clothing, disposable, over all, would be more wasteful than conventional clothing. In the 60/70s there were some disposable clothing lines introduced but it didn't go over well. The disposable diaper is a spin off from that, as is the prison jump suit, clean room smocks, some hospital gowns/wraps. Much of conventional clothing is recycled = handed down or sold in yard sales, etc – given to charity, used as cleaning rags.
There's no reason you shouldn't show some concern when any industrial plant is built in your community. Just because it is a recycling plant does NOT mean that it shouldn't be held to the highest of community standards. Instead of taking the adversarial approach which could just put you at odds with city/county planners, attend your local council meetings and ensure that some of the planning session is open to the public in order that you have some input in the process, or that at least your concerns are heard.
Give a phone call to your city or county offices and ask for the planning & development office. Request a copy of the environmental impact report for the proposed processing plant. You may find some or all of your concerns addressed. As was stated in the answers above, recycling is an overall positive for the community…and your vigilance in making sure that ALL public facilities meet your community's needs and concerns will also be appreciated.
This belongs in the homework category.
I agree that the best way of doing it is by recycling. Either sold it to a school based recycling or community. If you are creative enough, you can make a lot of things, from decorative figurines, small size baskets to bags.
Chuck Norris' tears stop global warming.
too bad he never cries.
- Yes all good stuff -
It has a chance as long as the money holds out. Since their money comes from oil profits, they must count the ungreen of their money in all this. With that included, they will be no better than anyone else. That is how many groups claim green. In their calculations, the money to do it, grows on trees instead of coming from the real world. You have to look at the universal numbers, not the after money numbers.
I am writing from India ,i recently saw a TV programme on the above topic ,one of the engineers involved in road construction using this technology spoke on the dual benefits of using waste plastic in road construction ,in the Bombay or surrounding areas ,he stressed that durability of road surface with this technology was greatly enhanced ,unfortunately i do not recall the name of the programme nor that of the engineer interviewed.
Here's one:
http://www.prowaste.co.uk/recycling_construction_waste.php
First, I do not think that at this point in time you will be able to produce safe and effective bricks or road material using plastic.
The closest you will get is the new type of plastic lumber that is coming out. That is some really good stuff and people are using it today. I can not say how much recycled content they have though.
Reality check.
The philippines has good sound laws but corrupt political influences always delay the implementation of these laws.
By the time these laws are enforced, they become so obsolete that another law must be passed (just like the politicians who regularly pass gas – i.e. fart through their mouth).
These are REALLY simple questions.
I'm sure if you opened your textbook, you'll easily find the answers.