Mining for plastic gold

A mountain of rubbish is not usually a welcome sight, especially when most of it is plastic.

It is a reminder that across the planet, huge amounts of such waste are being incinerated, buried or simply dumped—with major consequences for the environment and human health.

In the right hands, however, this junk can have a purpose. MBA Polymers has pioneered the extraction of plastic from abandoned consumer products so that it can be reused. The Richmond, California­based company has become the world leader in retrieving and reusing rigid plastics, notably from end­of­life, durable goods such as cars, refrigerators and computers.

Its success is based on a groundbreaking recycling process which came into being in 1992 in the California garage of the business's founder, Mike Biddle (for whom the company is named).

Dr. Biddle (his doctorate is in plastics) explained, “Plastics are recycled much less than metals because it is more difficult to separate them. We broke the code and figured out how to do it.

“The label of us as consumers is one I’ve hated my whole life. I prefer to think of using things in one form until they can be transformed into another. We see garbage mountains as above­ground mines, full of valuable raw materials.”

Those early experiments in the garage have led to an international business with the most advanced large­scale plastics recycling facilities in the world. MBA Polymers has developed plants in Europe and Asia through a series of investments and joint ventures with strategic local partners.

Its three sites—in Guangzhou, South China, Kematen an der Ybbs in Austria and Nottinghamshire in England—have a combined workforce of 300 and the capacity to process around 150,000 tonnes of waste per year.

The highly­automated plants are handling waste which would otherwise end up in landfill or incinerators. MBA Polymers sources its raw material from the recyclers of vehicles and electronic goods, from which most of the metal has already been extracted.

Its British site, developed in collaboration with EMR, a global player in metal recycling, is the only one in the world which exclusively processes automotive shredder residue—what remains after metals and other components have been taken out of scrapped vehicles.

The MBA Polymers process involves isolating, sifting and sorting millions of plastic fragments, then treating and turning them into small dark pellets which can be sold as the raw material for new products.

Five different types of plastic recycled in this way are now part of our lives—in vacuum cleaners, cars, furniture, office accessories and mobile phones. This is a valuable commodity; the growth of MBA Polymers is largely due to the fact that on a price per weight basis, plastics are worth more than steel.

The plastics sorting process is top secret. Industrial espionage is such a threat that parts of MBA Polymers’ plants are strictly off­limits.

The privately­owned company is equally coy about its financial performance, but the opportunity for expansion is clear.

Approximately 350 million tonnes of electronic and vehicular waste are discarded every year.

Plastics account for around 10 percent of the rubbish generated by mankind, with more produced since 2000 than during the entire 20th century. According to MBA Polymers, less than one­tenth of plastics from difficult waste streams such as durable goods gets recycled.

Richard McCombs, who has just returned to MBA Polymers to become CEO for the second time, said: “The last few years have been about consolidation and making the business work.

We do envisage further growth, with more plants in China, Europe and the US. There is an unbelievable opportunity with car waste in particular.”

Even allowing for the processing involved, MBA Polymers has calculated that each tonne of its recycled plastic uses 80 per cent less energy and generates up to three tonnes less carbon dioxide than virgin plastic produced in the conventional way from petrochemicals.

This matters when there is rising consumer demand for products with green credentials, which is driving the movement for zero waste. The collection of waste plastics is even on the increase in the US, where Mike Biddle said enthusiasm for environmental issues has lagged behind other parts of the developed world.

It is, however, an uncertain market. Falling oil prices have made virgin plastics cheaper. And recycling in less­developed countries costs less because of lower safety standards and the disposal into rivers of polluting by­products. Biddle, still a shareholder in MBA Polymers, recognizes there is still a long way to go. “I’m sure prices will bounce back, but the real challenge is the lack of a level playing field. Recycling standards and attitudes vary across the world...environmental issues can only be dealt with effectively on a global scale.”

For more information

Website: http://www.mbapolymers.com/home/

Video: http://www.sparknews.com/fr/video/mba­polymers­recycling­all­plastics

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