Matthew Bishop, Operations Manager at Viking Extrusions, discusses how greater recycling of silicone should be encouraged.
It is reckoned that for every tonne of carbon dioxide used to make silicone, around nine tonnes are saved in its application. Silicone, still considered a ‘miracle material’, will almost certainly play an important role in our transition to a world (more) free from fossil fuels.
Viking Extrusions
Making silicone circular
There is a drawback, however. At present, silicone is not recycled as much as it should be. Perhaps the most important reason for this is that silicone is difficult to break down, which makes recycling expensive and discouraged. This resistance to chemical degradation is also why silicone is so highly valued – and possibly the reason why we have been so slow collectively to recycle and reuse it. Silicone is not like plastic. It does not break up into microplastics and, if landfilled, it generally holds together and could resist the environment for at least 500 years.
This actually makes silicone environmentally friendly, in a way. If silicone is dumped into the environment, it just sits around doing nothing. It doesn't make its way into the oceans or food chains and is therefore easy to ignore. This is a mentality that must change.
The state of recycling silicone
Currently, the best methods to recycle silicone involve breaking it up into little pieces and then exposing it to extremely high-temperatures and salty solutions. Only with such an onslaught will the molecular compounds of silicone begin to break down. We, as a society, only engage in modest silicone repurposing such as shredding it for use in rubber mats.
There isn't a whole lot more to say about the recycling process of silicone. Its recycling is limited and embryonic. The process simply isn't encouraged. If we are going to bring about a culture that is pro-silicone recycling, we need to start changing our attitudes towards it. Industry players consider the difficulty and expense of recycling as discouraging. While I can sympathise, this isn't the right mindset. We need a system of networking that will encourage silicone recycling and, once established, drive down costs and inspire greater recycling initiatives.
Looking to the future
Silicone already has a near impeccable reputation due to its high material purity and the fact that it is oil- and mineral-free, along with many other advantages – but there is still much more we can do to improve its reputation.
It almost feels like silicone's reputation has held it back. There are entire grades of silicone that are just thrown away but can be sterilised and reused in medical and food applications. It seems so easy to make more, yet so hard to reuse. Challenging this zeitgeist can reduce the silicone industry's impact on waste and the environment.
Viking Extrusions
Making silicone circular
Matthew Bishop
The industry has already dropped the ball due to a lack of transparency and clarity, which has resulted in a ban or limit on certain types of silicone within the EU. Although such a decision is being challenged by the Global Silicones Council, we needn't have ended up in such a position in the first place.
The EU has a right to be cautious about silicone and how its application could affect human and environmental health. If only the silicone industry had communicated to Europe's regulatory bodies more clearly, such a huge legal mess could have been avoided. Alternative types of silicone could have been offered, and intense curing could have put any misgivings to bed.
To summarise, the silicone industry is becoming complacent. An incredibly versatile, useful and important material, silicone’s untapped value is being squandering. It's relatively benign in an environmental setting, but that doesn't mean we should do nothing and let it build up only for it to slowly degrade over the next thousand years. Europe’s plastics value chains have shown real leadership in making plastics more recyclable. The silicone industry must do likewise.