Takeshi Fujiwara* and Nobuo Takeda*

* Department of Environmental Engineering Graduate School of Kyoto University

+ Correspondence should be addressed to Takeshi Fujiwara:
(Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 Japan)

Abstract

In the law for "Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging" , liquefaction is outlined as one of the resource recovery methods for 'plastic containers with the exception of PET bottles'. In this study, an evaluation method is proposed for the liquefaction of plastic wastes over a wide area involving several local governments from the stand points of energy consumption, environmental impacts, and running costs. The northern part of Shikoku has been selected and six simulated cases with variable plastic collection ratio, locations of pretreatment and liquefaction plants were calculated. The following results were concluded: 1) approximately four times of the energy which is invested in liquefaction is yielded, 2) environmental impacts of energy consumption (CO2, NOx and consumption of landfill space) and 'transportation costs' are considerably lower than those for 'facilities', 3) due to scale merits the larger plant is able to save more on energy consumption and costs than the smaller plant.

Key words: plastic wastes, liquefaction, feasibility study, resource recovery