Techno-economic feasibility study of manufacturing yarn from recycled plastics

Solid waste management is becoming a problem that demands a timely solution. Those people concerned with municipal solid waste (MSW), are faced with the problem of disposing of significant volumes of potentially hazardous waste materials. There are many sectors which can make use of this MSW. One such sector in Oman is plastic manufacturing that uses polyethylene yarn from which they make net bags for the fruit and vegetable market. The yarn is produced from 75 wt.% high-density polyethylene (HDPE), 12 wt.% polyethylene (PE), and 13 wt.% MB for color. The HDPE comes from Asian countries and constitutes about 35% of the total production cost. Replacement of HDPE with 35wt.% Recycled Product is estimated to reduce production costs by 10%. Such a reduction in production costs will give these local Plastic manufacturers a competitive edge. On the other hand, the reduction of plastic waste reduces the environmental effects, creates different groups of buyers, receivers, dealers and recycling enterprises, and therefore new jobs.