Analysis of different collection methods for food and cartons Table 4: Analysis of multi-stream collection methods for food and drink cartons Carton separation Scenario Collection type Fate Benefits Drawbacks method If incinerated then the energy captured is derived Not collected as recyclate at If landfilled, the fibre fraction will generate Baseline N/A Residual waste mainly from biogenic carbon (fibre) and – the kerbside methane embodied energy is lost Dedicated Requires no further separation and produces a MS 1a Occupies space on collection vehicle compartment high level of purity Separately Marketed collected separately Ad-hoc Can piggy-back on an existing container’s MS 1b container/bag/bin volumetric space May not be recycled and will be disposed of or Remains in possibly sent for energy recovery card*/paper Likely to be accepted in the fibre grades and hence MS 2a Do not sort (mixed papers) will receive the same price for the weight May reduce value of the fibre if quantities stream Mixed with increase fibre grades Achieves a stream of material Difficult to positively select from fibre due to Manually separated Marketed concealment between sheets MS 2b Can be positively picked along with other materials at MRF separately (e.g. non-target) Adds cost through increased touch time Achieves a clean stream of material Manually separated MS 3a Adds cost through increased touch time Can be positively picked along with other materials at MRF with cans Marketed (e.g. non-target) and plastics separately Reduces manual sorting costs Optically separated at High capital expenditure if dedicated to MS 3b MRF cartons Belts can run faster (more material processed)
Analysis of different collection methods for food and cartons Table 4: Analysis of multi-stream collection methods for food and drink cartons Scenario Collection type Carton separation method Fate Benefits Drawbacks Baseline Not collected as recyclate at the kerbside N/A Residual waste If incinerated then the energy captured is derived mainly from biogenic carbon (fibre) – and embodied energy is lost If landfilled, the fibre fraction will generate methane MS 1a Separately collected Dedicated compartment Marketed separately Requires no further separation and produces a high level of purity Occupies space on collection vehicle MS 1b Ad-hoc container/bag/bin Can piggy-back on an existing container’s volumetric space MS 2a Mixed with fibre grades Do not sort Remains in card*/paper (mixed papers) stream Likely to be accepted in the fibre grades and hence will receive the same price for the weight May not be recycled and will be disposed of or possibly sent for energy recovery May reduce value of the fibre if quantities increase MS 2b Manually separated at MRF Marketed separately Achieves a stream of material Can be positively picked along with other materials (e.g. non-target) Difficult to positively select from fibre due to concealment between sheets Adds cost through increased touch time MS 3a with cans and plastics Manually separated at MRF Marketed separately Achieves a clean stream of material Can be positively picked along with other materials (e.g. non-target) Adds cost through increased touch time MS 3b Optically separated at MRF Reduces manual sorting costs Belts can run faster (more material processed) High capital expenditure if dedicated to cartons
WRAP_2923_CartonsGuide_FINAL.docx