A Circular Solution to Mixed Waste Paint Recycling

涂料行业的可持续性改善已经提上议程多年，特别是在减少挥发性有机化合物（VOC）方面。环境与健康法规对涂料中挥发性有机化合物的含量和其他挥发物的长期排放进行了规定，这推动了涂料行业的重大转变，因此目前在英国和欧洲销售的装饰涂料中有80%以上是水性涂料。该行业的重点现已扩大到包括能源和资源节约、废物最小化、提高工艺效率以及使用可再生和回收材料以增强可持续性。涂料的环境足迹约有90%是由原材料生产和下游使用及处置过程中产生的。油漆和涂料中最受欢迎的颜料是二氧化钛（TiO 2），由于其不透明性、美观性、颜色耐久性和保护性能，在90%以上的产品中发现了二氧化钛。TiO 2的生产涉及高能量、污染性废物流的排放以及稀缺自然资源的开采。任何对二氧化钛使用的环境足迹的改善都是值得欢迎的，而从英国每年产生的约5600万升废油漆中回收颜料（其中大部分进入垃圾填埋场）是实现这一目标的机会之一。没有技术可以分离废油漆组分以提供在工业规模上商业上可行的回收颜料产品，与第一次使用的产品相比。在之前的Innovate UK支持的项目中，PRA成功开发了一种实验室规模的工艺，用于回收具有与原始产品相似的物理和化学性质的TiO 2，以重新用作高品质颜料;也可以回收其它矿物组分作为颜料，填料，这个工业研究项目是在油漆和涂料行业的三个最重要的组织之间的合作，英国-- PRA World、Crown Paints和Venator。PRA工艺的成功扩大，将技术从实验室发展到试点工厂，将使地方当局能够节省废油漆处理的成本，使回收在财政上具有吸引力。这将减轻废油漆处理/乱倒垃圾造成的日益严重的环境负担，并将有助于该行业的可持续发展，以及英国政府的回收和垃圾填埋减少承诺。该工艺的成功开发为废油漆回收和再循环带来了一个飞跃。

Improvements in the sustainability of the coatings industry has been on the agenda for a number of years, particularly in the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Environmental and Health legislation regulating the levels of VOCs in coatings and longer-term emissions of other volatiles has driven a major shift in the coatings industry so that more than 80% of decorative paints now sold in the UK and Europe are water-based. The focus for the industry has now expanded to include energy and resource conservation, waste minimisation, improved process efficiency, and the use of renewable and recycled materials for enhanced sustainability. Approximately 90% of the environmental footprint of coatings is shared equally between that generated through raw material manufacture, and through downstream use and disposal.The most in-demand pigment used in paints and coatings is titanium dioxide (TiO2), found in over 90% of products because of the opacity, aesthetics, durability of colour and protection properties it provides. Production of TiO2 involves high embodied energy, emissions of polluting waste streams, and the extraction of scarce natural resources. Any improvements to the environmental footprint of TiO2 use is to be welcomed, and recycling of pigment from the approximately 56 million litres of waste paint generated in the UK each year, much of which goes to landfill, is one opportunity to achieve this.Currently, no technology can separate waste paint components to provide a commercially viable recovered pigment product on an industrial scale which does not exhibit significantly reduced performance compared to first-use product. In a previous Innovate UK-supported project, PRA successfully developed a lab-scale process for recovery of TiO2 with similar physical and chemical properties to virgin product for re-use as a high-quality pigment; other mineral components can also be recovered for reuse as pigments, fillers, and extenders.This industrial research project is a collaboration between three of the most important organisations in the paint and coatings industry in the UK -- PRA World, Crown Paints, and Venator. Successful scale-up of PRA's process, developing the technology from lab to pilot plant will enable local authorities to save costs for waste paint disposal, making recycling financially attractive. This will mitigate the growing environmental burden posed by waste paint disposal/flytipping and will contribute to sustainability in the industry and to UK government recycling and landfill reduction commitments. Successful development of this process presents a step change in waste paint recovery and recycling.