Ecobel Solutions

T: +91 8970712668 E: ferdin@ecobel.in

ECOBEL SOLUTIONS

THERMOCOL WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING

THERMINATOR

Solution for Thermocol Waste Management and Recycling.

Ferdin Sylvester (MSc. Environmental Engineering – Singapore)

Prateek Kumar (MSc. Sustainability – New Zealand)

Vishwas Vidyaranya (MSc. Environmental Engineering – Germany)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Thermocol or Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is a high volume low weight plastic that is causing an

unresolved waste management problem for civic authorities and the public. Due to the fact it is 95% air,

it is very light weight and not profitable to store and transport for recycling in a different location.

The solution proposed in this pilot involves a low cost, low maintenance and low power consumption

primary recycling machine. The machine essentially tackles the problem of high volume-low weight of

Thermocol by using a stable customizable system of heat and pressure to convert Thermocol to high

weight plastic that can be economically viable for further processing.

This densified high weight, low volume plastic can now be profitably stored and transported like other

recycled waste products like cardboard, paper, plastic bottles etc.

The solution also proposes to leverage the capabilities of the municipal aggregation centers by facilitating

linkages with the recyclers/manufacturers to ensure the Thermocol based recycling operations are a

sustainable ecosystem conducive for upscaling to other economically viable recycling strategies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

PROBLEM ANALYSIS 4

THERMINATOR 6

SPECIFICATION AND COST 8

CONCLUSION 9

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INTRODUCTION Waste is a resource that we do not harvest as we are unaware of its value, it requires innovation and system

thinking to leverage such a pervading resource. This is true when it comes to Thermocol, known as a

polluting public health and environmental hazard with no economically viable recycling strategies.

Thermocol or Expanded polystyrene(EPS) is a thermoplastic polymer obtained by the fractional

distillation of Crude Oil. EPS is an excellent material for packaging and for construction as it is a light

weight yet rigid foam with high thermal insulation capacity and high impact resistance.

EPS is also 100% recyclable and can be reprocessed into any normal plastic product, but the recycling

strategies in the market haven’t been viable under the purview of economics and the environment.

What is EPS

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is a rigid cellular plastic, which is found in a multitude of shapes and

applications. It is used for packaging of food, consumer goods and for insulation panels for building.

The raw material crude oil, is refined at

an oil refinery. During this process, fuels

and chemicals are distilled from the crude

oil, one of these is Naphtha.

Naphtha is processed at a processing

plant to produce a range of plastics,

including polystyrene. The polystyrene is

normally in the form of small granules at

this stage.

The granules are transported to the

manufacturing plant (factory) making

polystyrene products by expanding and

moulding it according to requirement.

The conversion of

polystyrene to expanded

polystyrene is carried out

in three stages.

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PROBLEM ANALYSIS CURRENT EPS SITUATION

Currently EPS is not being recycled and is either dumped in landfill, burnt or thrown in sewers.

▪ Landfill

EPS being non-biodegradable and resistant to degradation, they continue to remain intact in the

soil, without undergoing decomposition for a long amount time.

▪ Burning

EPS is also commonly burnt, since it is a petroleum product it naturally has a high energy content

and combusts easily. But improper uncontrolled burning of EPS causes release of compounds like

benzenes and Carbon monoxide which have high air pollution index.

▪ Thrown in sewers and drains

EPS is also often thrown into the open drains from where it travels, gets collected and ends up

chocking the whole drain system resulting in flood.

This is a serious problem and civic authorities have just come to realize the impact unmanaged

thermocol waste can have. In October 2017 Bengaluru experienced sudden floods and on thorough

investigation by the civic authorities (BBMP), it was found that EPS was the culprit. Waste EPS

thrown into the drains had clogged up the drainage which resulted in massive floods affecting

public health and property.

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Reduce volume and increase weight.

~90% of EPS is air

Recycling EPS is now financially viable.

Transportation of larger quantity of EPS

possible.

EPS gets recycled instead of being dumped or burnt.

Waste collectors start collecting and selling EPS to the recyclers.

EPS RECYCLING PROBLEMS

EPS has a high re-sale value to the garbage collectors and can be recycled to produce plastic products; but

it is 95% air and is a low weight – high volume plastic waste product which from a logistic perspective of

collecting, storing and transporting costs more money than what can be expected from its sale to recyclers.

Due to this low weight high volume issue of EPS, economics does not work out leading to a broken

recycling system where EPS is sent to the landfills, drains or burnt.

SOLUTION

Solving the ‘low weight – high volume’ is at the heart of the problem. Since EPS is 95% air, removing

the air transform EPS waste into a High Weight – Low Volume product.

By reducing the volume, the size of one unit of EPS reduces thereby allowing for more units to be stored

and transported. This make it possible to transport larger quantities of EPS to the recyclers.

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THERMINATOR INTRODUCTION

The EPS densification machine; Therminator, is an innovative and cost-effective solution for

transforming the Low weight high volume EPS waste to a High Weight Low volume product. Therminator

is capable of densifying 2kg / hour of EPS. The machine is customizable and can be designed to handle

up to capacities of 1 Kg/hour to 4 Kg/hour of EPS depending on required capacity.

WORKING PRINCIPLE

The machine uses an innovative system of pressure and heat under carefully calibrated low operating

temperatures. The heat system is controlled to provide uniform heat at low temperatures to convert the

EPS into a semi solid state. The gravity powered pressure system then deforms the EPS resulting in release

of the air and densification of the EPS.

The defining factor of the Therminator is that it ensures the operating temperature is much lower than the

melting temperature of EPS, thereby guaranteeing no toxic gases are released into the system. As an added

layer of security there are onboard HEPA and carbon filters to trap gases and purify the effluent fluids.

Densification

Machine

Low Cost

Safe

One Button

Operation

Plug and Play

Portable

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FEATURES

The machine was specifically designed keeping in mind the high volumes of waste seen in India as well

as the low operating costs required to keep recycling operations profitable for long term sustainability.

The main USPs of the machine are:

1. Low cost - The waste industry in India works on low capital costs and is driven mostly by manual

labor. The machine is designed to be cheap and affordable.

2. Low Maintenance - The machine has also been designed to have minimal maintenance costs. There

is only one gravity powered moving part, keeping wear and tear on the parts at a minimum.

3. Portable Plug and Play - The machine is equipped with wheels and can be moved around with

relative ease and the machine and its control system can be plugged to any single power port, making

it ideal for closed, small spaces such as in-city collection centers

4. Safety - The operating temperatures are carefully calibrated and controlled so as to ensure that the

EPS never melts, instead only undergoes densification and no toxic gases are released during the

operations. There is also a filtration unit with HEPA and Carbon Filters to trap any gases if present.

5. Low Power Requirement - The machine works with low operating temperatures, and this coupled

with the innovative gravity powered pressure system keeps the energy requirement low resulting

into low operating costs. Therminator has a maximum power requirement of 6.5 KW/Hour (Av. 4.5

KW/Hour).

DENSIFIED EPS

The densified EPS shows 80% reduction in volumetric size with an increase in weight per unit of EPS.

Picture 1.1 – Compacted EPS

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SPECIFICATIONS

COST

Model Max. Capacity Power Cost

V100 2 kg/Hr 6.5 KW Rs. 7 Lakhs

Therminater

Height (mm) 2280

Width (mm) 700

Depth (mm) 600

Weight (Kg) 425

Max KW 6.5

Power 3 phase

Max. Output (Per cycle) 2 Kg

Cycle Length 1 hour

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CONCLUSION

Therminator is aimed at providing the missing link between problem and solution for Expanded

polystyrene recycling. We have used the concepts of both design and systems thinking to design

Therminator and create an economically sustainable system conducive for long term recycling of EPS.

With a focus on practicality and functionality Therminator is positioned to be a point solution serving two

purposes;

1. Eliminating EPS as a public and environmental hazard

2. Profitability and livelihood generation for garbage collectors.

Therminator as a machine along with network linkages between waste collectors and recycler creates an

ecosystem that drives the recycling and management of EPS waste, transforming it from a waste to a high

value recyclable product.

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ANNEXURE 1