Conference to discuss the best options for end-of-life plastics

The End of Life Plastics 2014 conference will be held from 16-18 June in Düsseldorf, Germany. Organised by Applied Market Information (AMI), the event will provide a forum to debate the optimum environmental solutions for managing end-of-life polymer materials and the market reality and economics of each option.

To ensure a continuing supply of plastics, there must be recovery of the polymers after use in some form. The current options include primarily recycling, but also plastics to fuel; burning for energy; and chemical degradation back to the primary monomers to recreate virgin plastics. The latter is still being developed, mainly in Japan, and needs to get to an economically viable scale.

The conference will see presentations from around the world. Dr Steve Wong Chor Kie, the managing director of Fukutomi Company and executive president of the China Scrap Plastics Association, will highlight China’s vast recycling industry that has been importing from the rest of the world. Ton Emans, president of Plastics Recyclers Europe, will give an overview of recycling. Professor Christer Forsgren of Stena Recyling International will present Scandinavia’s variety of options for plastics waste, from energy recovery to recycling, and Group Machiels, from Belgium, will present plans to mine landfill sites for resources such as plastics.

For more conference information and registration, click here.