Introduction

Organising collection means, first of all, structuring the supply of plastic waste that provides the raw material for recycling. This determines the types of plastic available, their volumes and quality, and the technical and economic viability of the recycling activity.

An effective collection system depends on several key choices:

• Which materials should be collected?
• Where should they be collected?
• In what quantities?
• How should they be transported to the sorting or processing centre?

These decisions must reflect local conditions: residents’ practices, economic activities, available waste sources, waste prices and existing markets.

The behaviour of local stakeholders (households, collectors, businesses and the informal sector) directly affects the quality of the collected streams. Consistent sorting and clear organisation improve collection efficiency and reduce costs.

Organising collection is therefore both a technical task and a matter of social organisation. It aims to involve local people and partners over the long term, secure supplies of recyclable materials and support choices consistent with sustainable development: people, planet and profit.

1 - Material quality: key concepts before preparation

The first step in recycling plastic waste is sourcing the raw material. This has a cost: collection must be organised, or material that has already been collected must be purchased.

Care is needed because plastic waste is not always ready for use. It may be:

In these cases, the amount of plastic waste purchased is not the amount that can actually be used. You pay to buy and transport unusable material, increasing costs. Additional preparation steps may also be needed, affecting both the processing method and its cost.

1.1 - Contamination and soiling

Contamination is the proportion of unwanted material from the original object found in the plastic waste stream to be recycled. These contaminants must be removed before recycling.

Soiling is the proportion of external dirt or substances (metallic, organic, mineral or liquid pollutants) present in the plastic waste stream. These must also be removed before recycling.

Practical example:

An HDPE oil container from an open-air public dump.

If we want to recycle only the HDPE, we must remove any component that may be made from another material: the cap, closure ring, label and adhesive. An estimated 5 to 10 kg out of every 100 kg of containers purchased cannot be recycled. (Bareel P-F, 2002)

Storage in a public dump also results in very dirty waste. Oil residues must therefore be emptied and the container cleaned before recycling. For containers stored this way, an estimated 25 kg out of every 100 kg purchased is dirt or soiling. (Bareel P-F, 2002)

In total, only 70 kg of the 100 kg of containers purchased will actually be recyclable.

Waste has different values depending on its characteristics and how it has been stored, so the purchase price should reflect this. The weight purchased is not necessarily the weight that can be recycled, and it is important to estimate the difference. Additional cleaning requires money, time and energy.

1.2 - Degradation

It is also important to assess the quality of the plastic material. The more degraded plastic waste is, the lower its economic value, because it will be harder to recycle. Useful clues include:

• its origin (homes, streets, shops, industrial sites, farms, oceans, rivers, etc.)
• its storage conditions (in a closed shed, under a shelter, on the ground, outdoors, in sunlight, etc.)
• the length of storage (one month, one year, etc.)

If doubts remain or information is missing, observe and handle the plastics. Signs of degradation include whitening, flaking and brittleness.

2 - The different sources of plastic waste

After identifying the plastic material to recycle, the next step is to find where to obtain it.

To recover or buy the most suitable plastic waste at the best price, study nearby sources of supply to determine:

• the main sources of waste;
• the types of plastic available (PE, PP, etc.);
• the amount of waste available;
• the quality of the available waste (contamination,
• soiling and degradation);
• how frequently the supply of waste is replenished.

The next lesson explains how to run a complete waste characterisation campaign to identify these factors.

Plastic waste can be divided into four types of direct source, also covered in detail in Chapter 3.3.

2.1 - Municipal waste

This waste comes from households and individuals. Depending on the region, the available volume varies and may be a useful starting point. Collection locations include:

• Directly from households (the least soiled)
• Streets and parks (heavily soiled)
• Sorting centres (heavily soiled)
• Public dumps (heavily soiled)

Examples: films, bags, bottles, etc.

Advantages: regular supply

Disadvantages: unidentified, mixed and soiled waste; collection locations may change

2.2 - Commercial waste

This waste comes from businesses and can be divided into two categories according to its level of soiling:

• Lightly soiled: department stores, contractors, plumbers, etc.
• Soiled: hotels, restaurants, bars, garages, hairdressers, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.

Collection systems can be set up within these businesses.

• Lightly soiled examples: packaging, films, etc.
• Soiled examples: bottles, containers, flasks, etc.

Advantages: identified waste, easy sorting, regular supply and established collection points

Disadvantages: mixed and soiled waste

2.3 - Industrial waste

This waste comes from plastic-processing businesses. It consists of production waste or rejects that have not entered the consumption cycle. Collection is often organised within the business, so the waste is sorted, lightly soiled and available in large quantities.

Examples: offcuts of extruded PVC profiles, chairs, soles, etc.

Advantages: identified and sorted waste, light soiling, limited washing, regular supply and established collection points

Disadvantages: none

2.4 - Agricultural waste

This waste results from farming and forestry activities, including construction and packaging. Collection points are often far from towns and supply is irregular, but these sources can provide substantial quantities of plastic waste.

Examples: irrigation pipes, stakes, tarpaulins, jerrycans, grain sacks and plastic films

Advantages: identified and sorted waste

Disadvantages: soiled or potentially hazardous waste (crop-protection products), irregular supply and distant collection points

3 - Logistics and organisation

Transporting plastic waste is an important stage because it can quickly become very expensive. Waste takes up considerable space relative to the amount of material transported, as with an empty container. Large volumes must therefore be moved for a relatively small quantity of recyclable material.

One way to reduce transport costs is to reduce the size of the waste before moving it. Consider buying waste in the following forms or finding a service provider who can process it before transport.

It can be beneficial for an entrepreneur to buy plastic waste whose size has already been reduced. It may be more expensive to purchase because it has undergone preparation, but savings in transport can more than offset these costs. An estimate is needed to determine which option is most advantageous.

Another way to reduce transport costs is to shorten journeys as much as possible. A cheap waste source far away may be less attractive than a more expensive source nearby.

Finally, costs can be reduced by using affordable means of transport suited to local conditions. Here are some of the options:

Characteristics of possible means of transporting plastic waste (Source: Bareel P-F, 2002)

4 - Stakeholders in plastic waste management

To identify potential waste sources, it helps to understand the overall flow of waste. Meet waste-management stakeholders in your region to find suitable collection points and partners.

The diagram below shows the different stakeholders involved in recovering different types of plastic waste in low- and middle-income countries.

On this basis, we can identify the collection arrangements that structure supply and turn an intention into a practical system.

• Authorised (commercial) collection: sourcing through wholesalers or suppliers who obtain waste, including from dumps; purchase prices vary according to the material type (see Lesson 3.3.1).
• B2B collection: direct collection from partners under a formal procedure; the waste obtained is generally free of charge (see Lesson 3.3.2).
• Community collection and clean-up/awareness campaigns: occasional public activities combined with characterisation campaigns. These provide data to identify problematic objects, quantify pollution and raise awareness (see Lesson 3.3.3).

5 - The hierarchy of plastics

The nature of waste sources, the concentration of waste at a single location, the number of intermediaries needed for collection, and control of contamination and soiling directly affect recyclability. This creates a hierarchy from the easiest to the most difficult plastic waste to recycle.

In the diagram below:

• the streams on the left are the easiest to collect and recover: they have consistent quality, high density and easier access to substantial volumes. These include industrial waste first, followed by municipal waste: recurring commercial streams, then household waste; and
• at the far right is waste already dispersed in the environment. These sources are the most difficult to process because they are mixed, degraded and spread out.

This hierarchy depends on each local ecosystem, but a practical example, from easiest to most difficult to recycle, is:

1. Production offcuts from the plastics industry
2. Clean industrial waste
3. Soiled industrial waste
4. Post-consumer PET bottles
5. Post-consumer rigid plastic waste
6. Complex plastic waste (expanded polystyrene, PVC, multilayer packaging, textiles and fishing nets)
7. Plastic waste dispersed in the environment

Depending on the maturity of the local recycling ecosystem, the first streams processed are generally industrial waste. These high-quality materials may be available free to recyclers because they help businesses avoid landfill costs. As more operators target these sources, competition may gradually lead to purchase prices.

A waste economy then emerges, with purchase prices encouraging recyclers to target less accessible sources such as municipal waste.

Conclusion

Having covered the key concepts for understanding and describing a waste source, we now move to a more practical approach. The next lesson explains how to conduct a local waste characterisation campaign, a crucial step in assessing the viability of your proposed site.

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