Ferrara PVC Recycling Plant, Italy

The project is a pioneering recycling operation based in Ferrara in northern Italy. The new plant is designed to recycle PVC from cable insulation and other scrap materials. It is the first of ten PVC recyling plants that Solvay is considering building across Europe with this new technology.

PROJECT MAKE-UP

The Ferrara project got the final go ahead in June 2000, and the new plant completed mechanical construction in November 2001. Due to a number of minor mechanical problems, it has taken some months to improve and test the plant, however it was inaugurated at the end of February 2002. The normal capacity of the plant will be 8,500t/yr in terms of raw PVC produced for recycling. This is to be achieved at a cost of €10 million ($7.98 million). Although small in scale, the new plant will be interesting in terms of the process technology it uses.

VINYLOOP TECHNOLOGY

It uses a new technology called Vinyloop. The process uses the total solubility of PVC in solvents to separate the PVC from other components in the scrap. The initial "feedstock" of the plant will be mainly cable scrap and packaging. Other potential sources of PVC are pharmaceutical blister packs, floor coating and car dashboards. This spent PVC has hitherto been hard to recycle in a commercially viable way. The PVC is cut into small parts in order to maximise surface area, it is then completely dissolved in a solvent.

After dissolution, the PVC is recovered from solution at a quality which the developers believe to be equal to that of virgin material. This is done by precipitation. Moreover, the PVC produced by the recycling process features granulometric properties that improve the efficiency of the processing steps when it is re-used. The smoothness and homogenity of the granules improves their fluidity, and thus make them more desirable. Once the PVC is recovered from the solvent, the solvent is also recovered for re-use. Therefore, the process is a closed loop in which (theoretically) 100% of the material is recovered. However, this does not quite happen in practice as no cycle is entirely perfect.

This new process is not confined to just PVC from cable scrap. The Vinyloop process is also to be used in a tarpaulin recycling project by Ferrari Textiles Techniques in France, where it was first developed. However, the Ferrara site is the first application of the technology on an industrial scale.

Solvay, which supplied Ferrari Textile Technique's PVC, developed the recycling technology. As a result, the Belgium-based firm owns the license for the new process technology. If, as Solvay claims, the technology is commercially viable as well as environmentally beneficial, it may become a significant commercial advantage for Solvay.

ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIP

The new plant will be run by a consortium of four companies. These are: Solvin Italia (which is part of Solvin, the 75% Solvay and 25% BASF European PVC producer), Adriaplast (an industrial sheet, food packaging and credit card producer in the Solvay group), Technometal (the electricity and telephone cable producer), and Vulcaflex (which coats and calenders PVC for various applications).

The impetus behind all these companies co-operating in the new venture is environmentalism. As a non bio-degradable material, polyvinylchloride (PVC) is unpopular with the green lobby. To fend off public pressure which might lead to compulsory regulation, various PVC producers have opted for a voluntary code. The new plant is evidence of their determination to improve the rate of PVC recycling. As a result, the development is in conformity with the requirements of the objectives set by the Charter of European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM), as well as the recent decisions of the International Commission for the protection of oceans and sea life (OSPARCOM Commission) with regards to PVC production.

Solvay is working on a "second generation" technology of Vinyloop, that should reduce investment by more than 20% and energy consumption by 25%. This technology will be used in a number of new projects across Europe. This will include a flooring project in Germany, which is scheduled to start up in 2004; cable projects in Germany, the UK and Spain are also scheduled to begin in 2004. There are projects starting in the Netherlands, Canada and Japan, where Solvay is collaborating with Kobe Steel.