A
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| Is measured in sulphur dioxide equivalent. Air pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the air react with rain water producing sulphuric and nitric acid. The phenomenon is described as acid rain, which damages ecosystems and human constructions. |
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C
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| This is a recycling process in which the molecular links of the materials are modified in order to revert to the raw material. Vinyloop® is NOT a chemical recycling process but a mechanical one. |
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| This is a mixture of resin and additives (plasticizers, impact modifiers, stabilizers, pigments etc.) presented in the form of pellets. The Vinyloop® product is a micropellet, namely a pellet with an average granulometry of a few hundred µm. |
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D
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| abreviation of Dioctyl Phtalate, used as a plasticiser in PVC applications. Other types of plasticiser have higher or lower molecular weights. |
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E
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| Emissions are impacts to the environment that can go into the air, and the water. At Vinyloop, the dust emissions into the air can come form the waste itself. We care to keep within environmental and health regulatory prescriptions. The main gas emission is air, which is used for pneumatic transportation as well as for drying the final product. There is also some steam emission and a purge of nitrogen, a gas used for safety purposes. The process is designed to be closed loop for the solvent. All the drains and vents are recovered. By limiting solvent consumption, this sound environmental closed loop practice is totally aligned with the target of achieving a good economical performance. The use of the best available technologies makes it possible to reduce the emission of solvent to levels far lower than those specified in even the most stringent regulations. During the evaporation-precipitation steps, the condensing steam comes into contact with the solvent and the precipitated compound. A stripping step has been introduced at the end of the process to make sure that virtually no solvent remains in the slurry (this is the water suspension of the final product that our process produces). The separation of the final product leaves a stream of process water containing a small amount of Chemical Oxygen Demand due to some dissolved soluble material and some traces of metallic ions. This process water is purified to raise its quality above the requirements for safe discharge. In the case of Ferrara, this treatment is sub-contracted to specialists in an existing waste water treatment station. The composition of the process water depends on the nature of the raw material. New kinds of residues will be carefully checked by tests performed in our lab scale plant before confirming their acceptability, to make sure that the existing purification treatment is completely suitable. Additionally, periodic checks are done to ensure that everything remains under control. |
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F
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| This is a recycling process in which the molecular links of the materials are modified in order to revert to the raw material. Vinyloop® is NOT a feedstock recycling process but a mechanical one. |
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G
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| Amount of money asked to the waste owner to eliminate waste. This elimination can be a disposal in a land fill site, an incineration, or any recycling process. |
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| Is given in carbon dioxide equivalent and characterises the greenhouse potential of an emission over a period of 100 years. It is caused by carbon dioxide (C02), methane and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, present in the troposphere, which absorb the infrared radiation from the sun and radiate them in all directions, including back to earth, resulting in a warming up at its surface. |
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I
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| Additive used in window frames or thin foils to enforce the impact restance of PVC |
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K
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| This is a characteristic of the PVC resin which describes the length of the polymer molecules. |
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L
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| Scientific study on the consumption of energy and raw material, taking into account impacts on the environment (global warming potential, acidification, nitrification, photosmog) of a given product from the steps of its production, its use and its end of life. It does not analyse the economic aspects (like process costs). |
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M
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| This is a recycling process where the molecules are untouched. Physical means are used: grinding, sieving, dissolving etc. Vinyloop® is a mechanical recycling process. |
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| This is the specific form of the Vinyloop® product: compact beads of 300 to 400 µm, in which the PVC resin and its additives are homogeneously distributed. |
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N
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| Also called eutrophication, it is given in phosphate equivalent. It is aquatic or terrestrial. It results in the transformation of pollutants into nutrients for algae. Through their growth they absorb oxygen from the water and prevent sun light from reaching the lower depths. |
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P
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| Is measured by ethylene equivalent. Nitrogen oxides react and produce ozone in the presence of hydrocarbons and heat . Overly high levels of ozone, which concentrates in summer when the weather is dry and the air is static, are toxic. |
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| This additive is added to PVC resins to produce flexible items like cable sheathing, hoses, floor coverings and roofing membranes. |
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| This is a product that has ended one of its life cycles. |
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| This is waste coming from a production process, which can neither be processed any further nor sold. |
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| This is a PVC obtained by precipitation after a dissolution step. This is a key featue of the Vinyloop® process. |
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| is given in MJ, characterises the gain from erergy sources like natural gas, crude oil, lignite, coal etc. |
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R
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| This is the PVC compound extracted from waste by the Vinyloop® process. |
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S
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| measures the degree of hardness of soft PVC compounds. Two shore scales are used: shore A from 60 (=softer) to 90 (harder) for the softer types, shore D from 30 (softer, equivalent to shore A 85) to 60. |
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| This is the mixture of micropellets and water at the output of the Vinyloop® process. The water is extracted using well-known industrial methods. |
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| More precisely heat stabilizer : this is an additive that prevents the decomposition of the PVC reisn during the processing. The type and dosage depend of the kind of process. The main stabilisers contain baryum, calcium, lead, tin, organics or zinc. The PVC Chain Industry made a voluntary commitment to phase out lead in new products by 2015. Usage of Cadmium in new products ceased in 2001. |
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| Device where the solvent is removed from the secondary material by injection of steam |
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V
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| The European Vinyls Industry committed - among other things - to recycle by 2010, 200.000 tons post consumer waste. This objective will come in addition to 1999 post-consumer volumes and to any recycling of post-consumer waste as required by the implementation after 1999 of EU directives of packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles, and waste from electronic and electrical equipments. The Commitment goes also about the recycling of 50% of the collectable available PVC waste for window profiles, pipes, fittings and roofing membranes in 2005 and flooring in 2008. |
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