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Description
The global usage of bulk bags has significantly risen in recent years, with approximately 250 million tons of bags in circulation annually for storing and transporting products. Recycling bulk bags, fishery nets, and ropes poses challenges similar to those encountered in fiber recycling, primarily due to the complexities of analyzing contaminants.
The primary project objective is to expand the recycling capacity of the enterprise by up to 15% by introducing a new environmentally friendly product called "Kaskalen." This product, bearing certification and a registered trademark, will be composed entirely of recycled polypropylene (PP) sourced from discarded bulk bags, fishery nets, and ropes. This recycled Polypropylene, branded as "Kaskalen," exhibits exceptional qualities, making it an ideal raw material for manufacturing new bulk bags:
- Exceptional resistance to stress and cracking, even during flexing, rendering it suitable for various applications.
- Remarkable non-reactivity with bases, acids, detergents, or water, ensuring its long-lasting durability.
- A high melting point, making it suitable for an extensive range of microwave-safe containers.
- Exceptional durability, enabling it to withstand daily wear and tear effectively. This innovation will contribute to sustainable material utilization and promote eco-conscious practices in bulk bag production.
Summary of project results
The global usage of bulk bags has significantly risen in recent years, with approximately 250 million tons of bags in circulation annually for storing and transporting products. Recycling bulk bags, fishery nets, and ropes poses challenges similar to those encountered in fiber recycling, primarily due to the complexities of analyzing contaminants. One of the biggest challenges to polypropylene bulk bags and fishery gear recycling is that particular objects, such as sand, dirt and marine organisms, must be removed prior to recycling.
The company was not recycling bulk bags and fishery nets and ropes because they contain many odd objects, such as sand, dirt and marine organisms and sometimes oil and chemicals that can not be treated with the existing filters and meet the environmental standards.
The concept of closed-loop begins with polypropylene granulate and leads back to polypropylene degranulate (rPP) through the process steps production, usage, recovery and recycling. A closed loop has the advantage the production occurs within a quality insurance system, and the materials used are documented in a so-called “material passport”, certified according to EuCertPlast and will have the trademark “Kaskalen”. If plastic is made from the same type of polymer, it can be recycled into a wider range of products, so the first step in the recycling process is to sort the nets and ropes by polymer type. In order to achieve the purity levels required for their high-quality materials. Sorting and material steam will be according to the adopted certification standard VerpackG. The resulting raw material’s properties are comparable to virgin polymer and products made from them can be in turn be recycled many times. This is a significant step towards a circular economy approach which uses resources more sustainably and reduces the amount of plastic waste which could end up in landfill or the oceans
Kaskada Ltd. will optimize its PP production line with an innovative wastewater purification system that will allow purification of the wastewater and removing foreign objects by using several processes together using only process water that will circulate during the washing process. The system consists of automatic polymer station, buffer tank flotation including pumping station to pre-washing plant, process water tank including pumping station to the washing plant, sludge tank, feed pumps, dewatering press and chemicals could be installed under the platform. The recycling line should be optimized so it can purify the wastewater used during the recycling process of bulk bags and fishery nets and ropes. The wastewater system designed that involves a three-stage filtering process will ensure purification of the processed water and shredded PP by several methods that will ensure purification and removal of sand, dirt, and marine organisms as well as chemical substances using grit separation, a combination of chemical and physical treatment and Sludge dewatering.
The new product is prepared “Kaskalen” was tested in SGS International certified laboratory and new material was included in VerpackG quality system. Registration of the trademark "Kaskalen" was done on 04/05/2023 in Register of European Union trademarks with registration No 018823051.The Certificate of Registration is attached to the Report.