It is advisable to search for consolidated suppliers

The use of plastic materials recycled, since the beginning of the development of the processing industry until a few years ago it was a mere commercial transaction between recyclers and processors. Today, although the key to continue while between these two sectors of industrial activity, recycled items are of interest and intervention of what has come to be known as social partners, i.e.: Administration, organizations and integrated material management systems, and the efforts to encourage its use.

Expansion of interventions on this issue, and the pressure is motivated by the actions on the management of waste and consider them as the source of supply of the recycled.
Its transformation gives added value to the patchwork and waste, which are applied a new legislative and administrative constraints transposition of directives of the European Community. Currently the law 10/98 of waste, which requires that companies waste managers must be authorized and registered in a register, and must give an account of amounts that exploit in its facilities is already existing. Accordingly, you should only buy recovered materials from management companies that comply with the minimal administrative requirements of any industrial or commercial and duly registered or authorized activity. In our opinion this is in the interests of undertakings processing or utilizadoras that management companies must satisfy a range of legal and environmental requirements.
The sectors of consumption over which they have developed or are developing management plans are: packaging and packaging, agricultural, automotive, electronics, home appliances and construction.
One of them, the container and packaging for household appliances, has internalized the extra costs of recovery, in other sectors is under development.
The European Commission published a few months ago, a paper on integrated policy of product (IPP) focused to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle, with clear objectives of encouraging the consumer to it demands "green products". In this concept can be both the design for the use of recyclable materials, easy disassembly and the use of recyclable materials. Within this line and with similar objectives, the Generalitat of Catalonia has published the resolution of 9 October 2001, which establishes the criteria for award of the environmental quality guarantee symbol, in which the products must be composed of 80% recycled, in certain categories is sufficient 40%. It is relevant to the campaign which is carrying out the "Centre Català de el Reciclatge" to encourage purchases of products recycled by the public authorities.

In Spain, for more than 30 years, we know that there has been an industrial recicladora in which, according to data from Anarpla, 130 companies were identified, of which 14 more than the 6,700 metric tons/year capacity and have good equipment, and 26 are capacity between 3.000 and 6,700 tons / year, five of them have certification UNE-EN-ISO 9002 and two others are in the process of implantation of the quality assurance system to become certified.
It is important to provide consolidated recyclers, which have a long experience in the handling of materials, their supply network is stable and dimensionada which allows them to ensure the quality of their granulates and crushed.

Table 1: Summary of origins of origin and destination (Data Anarpla).

Total recycled (net): 322.108 t

The set up of sectorial programs of recycled like the collected selective of containers of RSU, the one of V.F.Or., electronic, etc., can generate some new families of materials: to) The recycled of PET, that supplies in flakes (6.500 Tm/2.000) and b) the mixes (commingled) of heterogeneous or material materials entremezclados, but in that one of them is predominant, generally is the PEAD. They have developed technologies that allow the moldeado of thick pieces and in this base his rigidity. The typical products are boards (lumber) and pallets. These technologies have the advantage that they allow the direct utilisation of triturados without going through the phase of granza, even any advocates the direct utilisation of dirty materials, having them subjected only to operations of triturado. It is recommended always incorporate a phase of wash that deletes earths and metals that can damage the equipment.

Better stability to the of virgin materials has been the competitive advantage tip in the years 1999 and 2000. The recyclers can hardly lower prices in the Valley areas that they should support structure costs. If lower, or the transformador-comprador demands by comparison with alleged offers, low cost, can obviously only be at the expense of the expenses of structure, combined with a low incentive in the acquisition of materials, translates into a decrease in the quality or regularity of production.

This is perhaps one of the major reasons why it is not recommended basing the opportunity to purchase merely on bids lower and the leap from suppliers. It has been proved, repeatedly, how the fatigues of the transformers to the use of recycled have occurred for reasons of repeated changes of suppliers (recyclers) including the import, looking for low prices without considering that the "good" recycled necessarily have a minimum price and it is not good to penalise the recycler with little formal practices.

Graphic annexes, to developments in prices of materials consumer goods, is seen as the oscillation of the recycled prices not follow exactly price of materials Virgin.

Comment: Grafiados prices are average prices of mixture of colours, suitable for black or dark tones, located at the foot of warehouse of the recycler. Transparent materials and bright colours are in prices higher demand.

See also...

• Cost reduction in extrusion (parte:II)