Complex Consumer Products, their Impacts on End-of-Life Waste Management, and Extended Producer Responsibility

复杂的消费品、其对报废废物管理的影响以及延伸的生产者责任

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04740
• 负责人: Tam, Edwin
• 金额: $ 1.46万
• 依托单位: University of Windsor
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=587989
• 关键词: Complex; Consumer; Products; their; Impacts

In 2009, the Canadian Council for Ministers of the Environment (CCME) put forth a Canada wide action plan for extended producer responsibility (EPR) in which the producer’s responsibility extends to the post-consumer phase of a product (CCME 2009). Most current EPR programs, however, currently target packaging, print materials, containers, liquids, and other simple products. Even for complex, durable products, such as automobiles, only basic items, such as tires, fluids, and batteries are identified under current EPR initiatives. As a result, much of our waste, especially if coming from complex, durable consumer products, is still being landfilled. More critically, as a sub-category of our overall waste stream, plastic-based products pose one of the greatest challenges to industrial and institutional waste management systems. In Canada in 2008, 324,731 tonnes of plastics were diverted from disposal, but 2.8 million tonnes in comparison were disposed, and plastics have been reported to contribute to human health and environmental impacts. Effective end-of-life (EoL) management (reduction, reuse, recycling) of plastic goods can not only remove significant amounts of plastics from waste streams, it also produces economic value by returning an otherwise disposed material for reprocessing. But plastics recovery and their recovery methods are typically viewed in "curbside" pickup terms for simple items, such as water bottles or simple packaging shells. For example, the US EPA reports that in 2010, 31M tons of plastic were generated, but only 8% of the total plastics were actually recovered for recycling. Furthermore, almost 11 million tons of plastic was generated as durable goods in the US, such as appliances. Compared to simple goods, complex, durable goods pose significant challenges for recovery. Distinct materials are bonded to each other in more complex configurations, making separation for recovery technologically challenging and expensive. Some of the greatest contributors to plastics waste are waste electronics and end-of-life vehicles (ELVs): the US EPA estimates that only 25% of all discarded electronics in 2009 were even collected for recycling. Lastly, even relatively simple plastic products can be difficult to recover in specialized situations, such as medical waste. Thus, what is potentially recyclable is not always recovered. We propose that alternate pretreatment techniques, separation strategies, and management strategies that use incremental, multi-step approaches can significantly improve plastics recovery. The proposed research will: 1) identify and develop effective approaches to recovering plastics from complex, durable goods; 2) assess how effective waste handling techniques and approaches can complement and promote effective EPR programs; and 3) examine how the outcomes can be applied to new materials, such as carbon fibre, to avoid or at least mitigate future waste handling effects as experienced currently with plastic wastes. To undertake this research, a representative, complex item, such as an automotive car seat will be used as a test item which embodies multiple materials (foams, plastics, metal, fibre) but is often not typically recovered for materials recovery will be used. Furthermore, this research also provides valuable training in research techniques, engineering systems, and management and communication aspects related to waste recovery for multiple highly qualified personnel (HQP) ranging from PhD candidates to undegraduate students in engineering.

2009年，加拿大环境部长委员会（CCME）制定了加拿大广泛的行动计划，以扩展生产者责任（EPR），其中生产者的责任扩展到了产品的消费后阶段（CCME 2009）。但是，当前大多数EPR程序目前针对包装，打印材料，容器，液体和其他简单产品。即使对于复杂，耐用的产品，例如汽车，只有基本物品，例如轮胎，流体和电池，也是在当前EPR计划下确定的。结果，我们的大部分废物，尤其是来自复杂，耐用的消费品，仍在垃圾填埋场。更重要的是，作为我们整体废物流的子类别，基于塑料的产品对工业和机构废物管理系统构成了最大的挑战之一。在加拿大，2008年，将324,731吨的塑料从处置中转移，但相比之下，有280万吨的塑料被处置，据报道塑料有助于人类的健康和环境影响。 塑料货物的有效生命终止（EOL）管理（减少，再利用，回收）不仅可以从废物流中去除大量塑料，还可以通过返回原本处置的材料进行后处理来产生经济价值。但是塑料恢复及其恢复方法通常以简单物品（例如水瓶或简单包装壳）的“路边”拾取术语查看。例如，美国EPA报告说，在2010年产生了3100万吨的塑料，但实际上只回收了总塑料的8％进行回收。此外，在美国，例如电器，将近1100万吨塑料作为耐用商品产生。与简单的商品相比，复杂，耐用的商品对恢复构成了重大挑战。不同的材料在更复杂的配置中相互结合，从而使恢复技术挑战和昂贵。塑料废物的一些最伟大的贡献者是废物电子和寿命终止车辆（ELVS）：美国EPA估计，2009年所有废弃电子产品中只有25％甚至被收集用于回收。最后，即使是相对简单的塑料产品，也很难在特殊情况下（例如医疗废物）恢复。那可能并非总是能回收。我们建议使用额外的多步进方法的替代预处理技术，分离策略和管理策略可以显着改善塑料的恢复。拟议的研究将：1）确定并开发从复杂，耐用商品中回收塑料的有效方法； 2）评估有效的废物处理技术和方法如何补充和促进有效的EPR计划； 3）检查如何将结果应用于诸如碳纤维之类的新材料，以避免或至少减轻未来的废物处理效果，因为目前使用塑料浪费的效果。为了进行这项研究，将使用具有代表性的复杂项目，例如汽车座椅，将用作体现多种材料（泡沫，塑料，金属，金属）的测试项目，但通常通常不会恢复用于材料回收的材料。此外，这项研究还提供了有关研究技术，工程系统，管理和沟通方面的宝贵培训，这些培训与多个高素质人员（HQP）有关，从博士学位候选人到工程专业的学生。