New Solutions to improve the recyclability of Black Plastics

David Giner

Innovation Department of Al-Farben S.A.

(Torrecid Group)

Most common black plastics are colored by using Carbon Black. These pigments do not help the commonly-used optical sorting systems for recycling because carbon black strongly absorbs infrared radiation as well as visible light. Because of this, black plastics usually end their lifecycle as a residue and/or are recycled into lower-valued materials with no polymer selection.

Some black Inorganic pigments such as Pigment Brown 29 may help the indicated optical sorting systems for recycling to detect near infrared (NIR) curve variations with good accuracy. This would improve recycling systems for Black plastics in general.

In this presentation we will explore the possibility to implement a system in which Black Inorganic Pigments with easily-detectable NIR curves are used. We will also explain how they could help the recycling of black plastics in general while maintaining other important factors such as color strength, economy and sustainability.

Biography – David Giner

David Giner (32) is the Marketing Manager at Al-Farben S.A. (Torrecid Group), a globally-based manufacturer of Complex Inorganic Color Pigments with headquarters in Alcora-Castellon (Spain).

Mr. Giner is Mechanical Engineer by the Universitat Jaume I de Castellon. He earned a Master´s Degree in Energy Efficiency and Sustainability and a MBA in Business Management at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. He is also Specialist in Innovation Management for the improvement of business competitiveness by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Expert in business creation and development of innovative companies by the Universitat Jaume I de Castellon.

Mr. Giner works for Torrecid Group since 2006, initially as Technical Manager at the Group´s affiliate Wandegar S.L. (a Ceramic Applications & Solutions Engineering) and since 2011 as Marketing Manager at the Group´s affiliate Al-Farben S.A. (manufacturer of Complex Inorganic Color Pigments for Ceramics, Glass, Plastics, Coatings and Construction Materials). His main role at Al-Farben has been to manage globally the introduction of a Ceramics&Glass-world leader-producer of Inorganic Pigments inside Plastics and Coatings Markets.

Mr. Giner holds two Patents regarding a system for ceramic tiles installation and a dry surface-coating technology. He has been speaker at several conferences at Spanish Universities (Universitat Jaume I de Castellon; Universitat Politecnica de Valencia; Aula Cerámica-ASCER Spanish Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers).