ISO/TR 16218:2013

Packaging and the environment — Processes for chemical recovery

ISO 16218:2013 covers used packaging, although the processes described are not specific for used packaging and can be used for recovery of other materials of same type. Processes for chemical recovery of used packaging are applicable for plastic packaging or biomass-based packaging, which might be interpreted in two different ways: processes to recover valuable chemical substances by chemical treatment of used packaging, for example, to recover monomers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by hydrolysis, glycolysis or methanolysis, to recover oil by catalytic reaction or pyrolysis, to recover valuable gases such as hydrogen by gasification, to recover coke, oil and gasses by cokefaction; processes to directly substitute used packaging for natural resources without chemical pretreatment, for example, flakes of used plastic packaging may use in blast furnace in the place of coke as a reducing agent.

Emballage et environnement — Processus de valorisation chimique

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 14-Mar-2013
• ICS: 55.020 - Packaging and distribution of goods in general
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 122/SC 4 - Packaging and the environment
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 122/SC 4 - Packaging and the environment
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Due Date: 10-May-2014
• Completion Date: 15-Mar-2013

Standards Content (Sample)

TECHNICAL ISO/TR
REPORT 16218
First edition
2013-03-15
Packaging and the environment —
Processes for chemical recovery
Emballage et environnement — Processus de valorisation chimique
Reference number
ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)
©
ISO 2013

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ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)

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© ISO 2013
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ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Inventory of relevant existing documents . 2
5 Identification of further packaging-specific needs related to chemical recovery .2
6 Suitability for chemical recovery process . 2
Annex A (informative) Examples of monomer recovery of PET . 4
Annex B (informative) An example of oil recovery . 6
Annex C (informative) An example of gas recovery . 7
Annex D (informative) An example of reduction agent in blast furnaces . 8
Annex E (informative) An example of raw material for coke manufacturing .9
Annex F (informative) Assessment checklist — suitability for chemical recovery process .10
Bibliography .11
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ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting.
Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies
casting a vote.
In exceptional circumstances, when a technical committee has collected data of a different kind from
that which is normally published as an International Standard (“state of the art”, for example), it may
decide by a simple majority vote of its participating members to publish a Technical Report. A Technical
Report is entirely informative in nature and does not have to be reviewed until the data it provides are
considered to be no longer valid or useful.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/TR 16218 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 122, Packaging, Subcommittee SC 4,
Packaging and Environment.
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ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)

Introduction
Resource use optimization, resource savings, environmental impacts’ minimization are among priorities
in a perspective of sustainable development. These priorities apply also to the packaging sector. Since
many years, this latter has developed initiatives in these directions, working on the packaging design
aspects as well as on the organization of the logistic chain, on setting up recovery and recycling schemes
or on the development of used packaging recovery or recycling technologies.
For various reasons, including the diversity of national or regional contexts, some confusion arose from
the fact that neither legislations nor communication messages from the concerned stakeholders could
rely on clear and unanimously agreed upon definitions of the terms used and of the respective benefits
of the various recovery/recycling options.
ISO/TC 122/SC 4 is developing standards on the optimization of the packaging system (ISO 18602), on
reuse (ISO 18603), on material recycling (ISO 18604), on energy recovery (ISO 18605) and on organic
recycling (ISO 18606). ISO 18601 will define the general requirements for the use of these ISO standards
in the field of packaging and the environment.
This Technical Report is an attempt to clarify some ideas relating to the concept of “Chemical Recovery”,
to put it in the perspective of the other recovery options and to help local stakeholders to identify the
locally most appropriate treatment option, on the basis of a common understanding of the terms and of
the basic requirements specific to each recovery technology. In this Technical Report, the methodologies
of chemical recovery of used packaging are described.
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TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)
Packaging and the environment — Processes for
chemical recovery
1 Scope
Several processes for chemical recovery of used packaging are considered to be material recycling. The
focus of this Technical Report is for used packaging, although the processes described are not specific
for used packaging and can be used for recovery of other materials of same type. Processes for chemical
recovery of used packaging are applicable for plastic packaging or biomass-based packaging, which
might be interpreted in two different ways:
— processes to recover valuable chemical substances by chemical treatment of used packaging, for
example, to recover monomers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by hydrolysis, glycolysis or
methanolysis, to recover oil by catalytic reaction or pyrolysis, to recover valuable gases such as
hydrogen by gasification, to recover coke, oil and gasses by cokefaction;
— processes to directly substitute used packaging for natural resources without chemical pretreatment,
for example, flakes of used plastic packaging may use in blast furnace in the place of coke as a
reducing agent.
Examples and key characteristics of chemical recovery processes are given in Annexes A to E.
NOTE For the purpose of this Technical Report; “Chemical recovery” means the production of chemicals,
identical to or differing from, the starting raw materials that were used for the production of the packaging
materials, or the direct substitution of natural resources by using used packaging. These recovered chemicals can
be used as such, or as reactants in further chemical syntheses; directly ‘in situ’ or in another production process.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 21067, Packaging — Vocabulary
ISO 18601, Packaging and the environment — General requirements for the use of ISO standards in the field
of packaging and the environment
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 21067, ISO 18601, and the
following apply.
3.1
monomer recovery
processes to recover monomers such as by decomposition of used packaging
Note 1 to entry: The industrial processes are established to recover monomers to produce polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) such as dimethyl-terephthalate (DMT), bis-hydroxyethyl-terephthalate (BHET) and ethylene
glycol (EG) by chemical decomposition of PET. The processes to recover monomers from the following polymers
are at the development stage for polymers such as; polycarbonate (PC), polyamide (PA), polystyrene (PS) and poly
lactic acid (PLA) polymer.
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ISO/TR 16218:2013(E)

3.2
oil recovery
processes to recover oil from used packaging such as by decomposition with or without catalyst
3.3
gas recovery
processes to recover gases useful for chemical industries as their raw materials (hydrogen and carbon
mono-oxide) such as by carbonization and partial burning of used packaging
3.4
reduction agent in blast furnaces
product providing carbon and hydrogen to replace coke with used packaging in blast furnaces for
steel production
Note 1 to entry: In the conventional steel production processes, coke is used as a reduction agent.
3.5
raw material for coke manufacturing
product to partially replace coal with used packaging for raw material of coke furnaces to produce coke
4 Inventory of relevant existing documents
Various options of chemical recovery are also addressed in some standardization documents, for example
— ISO 15270:2008, Plastics — Guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastics waste
— ISO 18601, Packaging and the environment — General requirements for the use of ISO standards in
the field of packaging and the environment
— ISO 18604, Packaging and the environment — Material recycling
— ISO 21067, Packaging — Vocabulary
5 Identification of further packaging-specific needs related to chemical recovery
The prime objective of this Technical Report is specific for used packaging. In order to meet the needs of
the market, the used packaging fraction ending up in a chemical recovery process is in many cases used
in combination with other material fractions of the same type. Therefore the processes described in this
Technical Report are in practise not restricted to used packaging.
Each recovery option has its own specifications, e.g. number of materials, maximum levels of
contamination, etc. Certain materials may be incompatible with some chemical recovery processes. In
cases of significant amount of such materials being included, pre-treatment to remove these should be
introduced to avoid those problems.
6 Suitability for chemical recovery process
Chemical recovery is included as material recycling as an option. If used packaging, i.e. source material,
is collected in mono-material
...