Our site uses cookies necessary for its proper functioning. To improve your experience, other cookies may be used: you can choose to disable them. This can be changed at any time via the Cookies link at the bottom of the page.


Sustainable construction - Environmental impact analysis of integrating recycled HDPE into corrugated piping

 

Papers

Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2018 Las-Vegas

D.W. Currence, B. Sauer

Society’s call for improved stewardship of natural resources and public funds continues to grow. Combined with the challenges facing public infrastructure has resulted in the broadened expectation for sustainable and resilient materials and products to serve in these future public infrastructure needs. Sustainability is most often synonymous with products being renewable and environmentally friendly, or causing low adverse environmental impact. Resiliency implies long lasting and the ability to effectively serve within a wide range of unpredictable or extreme conditions. The Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) believes HDPE pipe is ideal for meeting sustainable and resiliency demands. To scrutinize and analyze this assertion, PPI commissioned Franklin Associates to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the cradle-to-grave life cycle of several different material types of pipes used in storm drainage. Included in this life cycle assessment (LCA) is the evaluation of corrugated HDPE manufactured with postconsumer recycled resins.

Research has recently concluded on the performance of corrugated HDPE pipe made with recycled resins.1,2 As a result, North American standard specification bodies have recently expanded existing corrugated HDPE pipe standards (AASHTO M294 and ASTM F2306) to include recycled resins.3,4 These new standards allow use of recycled HDPE drainage pipe within the public right-of-way. This shift toward using recycled content presents an opportunity for design engineers and public utility agencies that are seeking to reduce their overall environmental footprint associated with storm drainage projects.

As this LCA illustrates, corrugated HDPE pipe has favorable environmental impacts when compared with other storm drainage pipe materials. By reducing the use of virgin HDPE and supplementing the blends with post-consumer recycled HDPE there are additional decreases in the overall environmental impacts realized initially and over the life time of the system. HDPE pipe made with virgin or recycle resins are the sustainable, resilient and responsible choices for storm drainage applications.

Related keywords : Recycled, Sustainability, Drainage, LCA.
Please note that the whole article content is available on PPCA website only :

Related papers

2021 Amsterdam : CONCEPT TO STANDARD – HOW RECYCLED MATERIAL WAS EFFECTIVELY ADDED TO U.S. STANDARDS FOR CORRUGATED HDPE PIPE

Author(s) : Daniel Currence, Michael Plumier

Over a ten-year period, the North American corrugated plastic pipe industry successfully demonstrated that post-consumer and post-industrial recycled materials could be responsibly incorporated into corrugated pipes used for drainage applications. Prior to this work, the material standards were established for ...

2021 Amsterdam : DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID AND INNOVATIVE IN-FACTORY PROCEDURE FOR TESTING THE PERFORMANCES OF PE PIPES CONTAINING VARIOUS PROPORTIONS OF RECYCLED POLYMER MATERIAL

Author(s) : Dominique GUEUGNAUT, Pascal AUSSANT, Romuald BOUAFFRE, Myriam BECHROURI

Concerns regarding the environment and sustainable development have revived interest in the reprocessing and re-use of polymer materials from manufactured objects that have reached the end of their operating life. Within this framework, formal professional agreements have been put in place at global level under the...

2021 Amsterdam : FLOWABLE FILL FOR PLASTIC PIPE

Author(s) : Amster Howard

Flowable fill is used for many applications, but mainly for pipe trench embedment and backfill. There are three ways that using flowable fill can be kind to the environment. Because flowable fill is self-leveling and has a strength greater than the native soil, the trench cross section can be minimized. This means...

2021 Amsterdam : INSIGHTS ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE PIPES

Author(s) : Peter Sejersen

Environmental Product Declarations of e.g. building products are to a large extent mandatory and we see that the European Union as well as individual Member States are implementing new regulation to secure sustainability in new buildings. The European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint is one example and...

2021 Amsterdam : LARGE DIAMETER & THICK WALL HDPE PIPES PRODUCED AND DEVELOPED IN THE MIDDLE EAST – 3 CASE STORIES

Author(s) : Eng. Grigorios Vigellis, Eng. Mohamed Hageb

Continuous development and innovation in the production of plastic pipes made by high density polyethylene (HDPE) has enabled the industry to produce much larger diameter systems than ever believed possible. The enablers for production of such large plastic pipes are three main pillars: continuous innovation...

2021 Amsterdam : MULTILAYER POLYMER PIPES – THE INFLUENCE OF RESIDUAL STRESS ON FATIGUE LIFETIME

Author(s) : Lukas Travnicek, Pavel Hutar, Jan Poduska, Andreas Frank, Florian Arbeiter, Jaroslav Kucera, Jiri Sadilek, Gerald Pinter, Lubos Nahlik

The application of recycled material in pressure piping systems has been considered lately – it was suggested, that the recycled polyethylene could be used as a part of a multilayer pipe together with virgin material. This type of pressure pipes is not availableon the market yet, so their properties can be only...

2021 Amsterdam : PLASTIC PIPES FOR WATER DRAINAGE IN RAIL- AND MOTORWAY TUNNELS – A MAJOR CHALLENGE

Author(s) : Florian Arbeiter, Tobias Schachinger, Stefanie Eichinger, Gisbert Rieß, Michael Stur, Michael Steiner, Florian Saliger

Plastic pipes are of outstanding importance for the distribution of potable and process waters, oil and gas, as well as for sewer and waste water disposal. However, plastic pipes are also used in many other technical areas. Especially in European countries with mountainous regions, such as Austria, Switzerland, Italy...

2021 Amsterdam : RECYCLING COMMITMENT OF THE EUROPEAN PLASTIC PIPE INDUSTRY

Author(s) : Ludo Debever, Peter Sejersen

The European Plastics Strategy is a priority for the European Union. Recycling more post- consumer plastics (PCRs) is paramount. That is why the Circular Plastics Alliance has been established. The alliance gathers public and private stakeholders in the plastics value chains to promote voluntary actions and...

2021 Amsterdam : Risk Assessment of Non-Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS) in potable water

Author(s) : Dr Ruediger Liske, Dr Tobias Eltze, Dr Tania Weyland, Marie-Laure Bertet

The migration of NIAS (Non-Intentionally Added Substances) into potable water is a recurring topic for the distribution of cold and warm drinking water and related materialsindustry. These substances are chemical compounds that are present in drinking water contact materials but have not been added during the...

2021 Amsterdam : SLOW CRACK GROWTH RESISTANCE OF REPROCESSED PVC

Author(s) : Andreas Frank, Mario Messiha, Günter Dreiling, Norbert Schuler, Jens-Martin Storheil, Erwin Mayrbäurl, Stuart Ramella, Frank Krause, Rudi Berning, Philippe Gabriëls, Alpay Aydemir, Thomas Koch, Florian Arbeiter, Gerald Pinter

The Cyclic Cracked Round Bar (CRB) Test has been applied to study the slow crack growth (SCG) resistance of virgin, recycled, and reprocessed PVC-U. This fracture mechanical test allows a quick ranking of the SCG resistance of PVC-U. A clear correlation between the K-value and the SCG resistance has been elaborated....

2021 Amsterdam : SMART TITANIUM DIOXIDE FOR ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE OPTIMIZATION OF PLASTIC PIPE FORMULATIONS

Author(s) : Andrew J. White, Paul Dietz

FP-Pigments is a global manufacturer of a unique series of titanium dioxide pigment products and have been supplying the coatings, plastics, paper and inks markets for over 10 years, helping our customers reduce their raw material costs while maintaining product quality and performance. We have plants in both...

2021 Amsterdam : UTILIZATION OF HDPE RECYCLED MATERIALS IN SANITARY SEWER APPLICATIONS

Author(s) : John M. Kurdziel

The use of recycled plastics in high density corrugated polyethylene pipe for storm sewers, highway culverts and general land drainage applications has now been widely accepted by municipalities and transportation agencies. This acceptance has made it possible to convert what was once considered a single use plastic...

2018 Las-Vegas : Engineering and testing requirements for infrastructure pipeline applications utilizing HDPE recycled materials

Author(s) : John Kurdziel, Michael Pluimer

Corrugated HDPE pipes have been successfully used for decades for sewers, culverts and land drainage applications and are advantageous due to their durability and service life in a variety of installation conditions. Pipes used for highway and storm sewer applications typically require stricter material standards...

2018 Las-Vegas : Guidelines for corrugated HDPE pipes manufactured with recycled materials for highway culvert and storm drain applications

Author(s) : Michael Pluimer, Richard Thomas

Over the past decade, there have been several key research projects to evaluate the performance of corrugated HDPE pipes manufactured with post-consumer and postindustrial recycled materials for highway and railroad drainage applications. Three of these projects were recently completed and published (NCHRP Project...

2018 Las-Vegas : Innovative design of the atlanta braves baseball field

Author(s) : Jim Goddard, Issam Khoury, Mark Heinlein

The Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team built a new stadium north of Atlanta, Georgia. The field drainage design required the removal of 75mm (3 inches) of rainfall an hour and a system for warming or cooling the field using air blown through the drainage system and field profile using heat from pipe buried...

2018 Las-Vegas : Multilayer polymer pipes - Possible utilization of recycled material

Author(s) : Pavel Hutar, Jan Poduska, Pavol Dlhy, Andreas Frank, Jaroslav Kucera, Jiri Sadilek, Gerald Pinter, Lubos Nahlik

This paper investigates possible use of recycled material as a part of a multilayer polyethylene pressure pipe system. Crack propagation in different configurations is simulated. Lifetimes of pipes containing recycled material are calculated. Results are compared with lifetimes of pipes made of virgin...

2018 Las-Vegas : Slow crack growth resistance of non-virgin polymers

Author(s) : Andreas Frank, Isabelle J. Berger, Mario Messiha, Carl-Gustaf Ek, Norbert Schuler, Jens-Martin Storheil, Erwin Mayrbäurl, Steve Heeley, Frank Krause, Lodewijk Niemöller, Philippe Gabriëls, Yogesh S. Deshmukh, Florian Arbeiter, Thomas Koch, Gerald Pinter

In order to improve the circular economy of polymers in terms of sustainability and reduced carbon footprint, the increased use of recyclates has become a topic of major importance. Due to their long design lifetimes, pipe applications represent an excellent opportunity to create added value to non-virgin polymers....

2018 Las-Vegas : The test method of metallic element for polyethylene plastic pipes or materials for pipes and its application

Author(s) : Xiaoying Lu, Yujie Wang, Qiang Huang, Chunyan Xu, Guangyu Zhu, Aimin Xiang, Linmei Wu, Yanfang Wang

The determination method of metal elements for polyethylene pipes was reported in this paper, the difference in metal elements content between raw materials and recycled materials was analyzed. The results showed that raw and recycled materials in polyethylene pipes were effectively distinguished via metal element...

2018 Las-Vegas : Variability and quality control for production of corrugated HDPE pipe manufactured with recycled content

Author(s) : Crista K. McNish, Joe Babcanec, Rachel M. Thurston, Zacharias Obermeyer

This paper presents findings from extensive testing performed on various recycled HDPE resins at different stages of processing to evaluate: (1) the variability expected from a source resin (e.g. post-consumer materials from bulk recycling, post-industrial waste stream), (2) variability when blending different types...

2016 Berlin : Advancing of Plastic Corrugated Pipe Systems in India in Last Two Decades

Author(s) : C.B. Dandekar

Plastic Corrugated Piping System (PCPS) was introduced in India in 2001, much later than the western world started using it for various applications. It received a mixed response from the Govt. Agencies, but was well accepted by the market, actual users and standardizing institutions. PCPS finds applications in...

Members of the Association

BOREALISBOROUGEFormosa Plastics CorporationHanwha TotalEnergiesINEOS O&PIRPCKorea Petrochemical IND. Co., LTD (KPIC)LyondellBasellORLEN UnipetrolPetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical CompanyPRIME POLYMERSABICSCG Chemicals & Thai PolyethyleneSinopecTASNEE