Report Talking rubbish
Report Talking rubbish about cement Incorporation of used bags. Please note that bags were not ground, in order to mimic the real conditions By Walter Lopez Biolice bioplastics solutions Limegrain Céréales Ingrédients Ennezat, France Two years ago, Ciments Calcia, Mondi Packaging, Groupe Barbier and Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients developed a concrete and relevant solution for the waste management of construction sites, thanks to BioSac by Calcia, the first biodegradable cement bag. With BioSac by Calcia, the ‘3 layers’ sacking technology made its green revolution by combining with the two Kraft paper layers, a ‘free film’ made from biolice, the only compostable bioplastic made from maize grain. By substituting polyethylene with this innovative bioplastic, the new cement bag keeps the same resistance and conservation qualities while promoting environmental ambition. This exclusive composition of BioSac by Calcia guarantees the OK Compost certification (conformity to EN 13432) However, used cement bags have always contained a small amount of cement (between 100 and 400 g) and there was a need to check if the ‘end-of-life’ solution of used biodegradable cement bags could be of value for the composting industry. It was decided to evaluate the impact of incorporating used cement bags in collaboration of EcoVert Boilon composting facilities located in the center of France. Boilon facilities produce 12,000 tonnes of compost per year, conform to French norms NFU-44051 and NFU-44095. screening after 4 months Industrial composting Fermentation 3 months Maturation 3 months 8 reversals 5 waterings Start of trials End June 2011 Screening Early November Analysis for NFU44051 December 2011 Time scale 26 bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/12] Vol. 7
Report reversal bags For evaluation, two windrows were constituted: The control windrow was composed of 50 tonnes of organic waste and the trial windrow was made with 48 tonnes of organic waste in which 2.5 tonnes of used cement bags were added. The trials began with a 3 months fermentation phase, with 8 reversals for homogenization and 5 waterings, for launching waste fermentation and enable a temperature rise. After this first period, a maturation phase started followed by a screening step: mechanical separation between final compost and elements with a diameter higher than 40 mm (refusal of screening). At the end of the experiments, the trial windrow containing ~5% of used cement bags presented similar evolution than control windrow : • From the initial 2.5 tonnes of used cement bags added, only 100 kg of paper from bags were found in the refusal of screening • No trace of cement nor biolice films were found • Mass balance was identical for the 2 windrows: the compost quantity was equal By comparing the compost from the two windrows, the incorporation of used Biosac by Calcia bags containing cement into composting has no impact on compost quality: • Physical characteristics : no difference • Pathogenic microganisms (if any) were totally destroyed during the fermentation phase • Organic and metallic traces : The compost obtained from trial windrow fulfills the NFU 44015 norm, allowing the use of the compost for soil fertilization Thus BioSac by Calcia cement bags can be collected and used as raw material in every composting facility. It is important to underline that 50 millions cement bags are used each year only in France. It shows that bioplastics such as biolice can help to manage waste in this mass market and that leaders such Calcia, Mondi or Barbier group are ready to support the end of life solutions coming from bioplastics. www.biolice.com CAN YOU GUARANTEE THE COMPOSTABILITY OF YOUR PRODUCTS ? Vinçotte, leader in bioplastics certification www.okcompost.be www.seedlingbyvincotte.be Vinçotte certifies conform to EN 13432 YOUR REPUTATION IS MINE. bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/12] Vol. 7 27
