Articles
Sustainable asparagus film disposal without creating microplastics
Article number
1376_17
Pages
119 – 126
Language
English
Abstract
Asparagus covering films have to be replaced after 7 to 8 years.
In Germany alone, about 2,500 t of PE-film with a length of 12,500 km must be disposed of annually, which are currently mainly thermally recycled.
However, large amounts of soil in the lateral film pockets (>80% of the total mass) prevent the sustainable recycling of films.
Together with a mechanical engineering company an immobile machine is being developed that unwinds the film, opens the lateral pockets, empties them, cleans, and rewinds the film.
According to current tests on the prototype, up to 95% of the soil/sand mixture could be removed by the process, so transport costs are reduced and the film can be recycled.
At the same time, the introduction of microplastic and macroplastic into the environment should be prevented.
At the current stage of the machine development, up to 2000 m of film could be cleaned hour‑1, which corresponds to an area of 0.4 ha of asparagus with 2 m row spacing.
The water content of sand in the pockets significantly influences the degree of cleaning.
Wet sand adheres better to film and is more difficult to remove than dry sand.
Depending on film thickness and equipment settings, between 0.014 and 0.298 g of film particles kg‑1 remained in the separated sand/soil mixture.
In Germany alone, about 2,500 t of PE-film with a length of 12,500 km must be disposed of annually, which are currently mainly thermally recycled.
However, large amounts of soil in the lateral film pockets (>80% of the total mass) prevent the sustainable recycling of films.
Together with a mechanical engineering company an immobile machine is being developed that unwinds the film, opens the lateral pockets, empties them, cleans, and rewinds the film.
According to current tests on the prototype, up to 95% of the soil/sand mixture could be removed by the process, so transport costs are reduced and the film can be recycled.
At the same time, the introduction of microplastic and macroplastic into the environment should be prevented.
At the current stage of the machine development, up to 2000 m of film could be cleaned hour‑1, which corresponds to an area of 0.4 ha of asparagus with 2 m row spacing.
The water content of sand in the pockets significantly influences the degree of cleaning.
Wet sand adheres better to film and is more difficult to remove than dry sand.
Depending on film thickness and equipment settings, between 0.014 and 0.298 g of film particles kg‑1 remained in the separated sand/soil mixture.
Publication
Authors
M. Geyer, K. Salama
Keywords
asparagus, foil, recycling, density separation, environment, process development
Groups involved
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