System and method for recycling transparent pet bottle

Abstract

The present invention relates to a transparent PET bottle recycling system comprising: a plurality of eco-PET mobile vehicles; and a second process processing unit, wherein finished flake products produced by the second process processing unit are packaged in a fixed quantity and shipped, the second process processing unit includes a washing device, a rinsing device, a dewatering device, a dryer and a storage unit, and thus removes foreign substances from primary flakes received from the eco-PET mobile vehicle and cleans the primary flakes, the eco-PET mobile vehicle includes a movable generator, a transparent PET bottle grinder, a dust collector, a cyclone device, a transfer screw, and ton bags in a loading space, the primary flakes of PET bottles are collected and gathered in the ton bag, and an industrial scale for measuring the weight of the primary flakes is provided below the ton bag.

Description

Transparent PET bottle recycling system and method

[0001] The present invention relates to a PET bottle recycling system and method.

[0002] With the implementation of the "mandatory separation and disposal of transparent PET bottles" on December 25, 2020, high-quality transparent PET bottles are being collected and processed to generate revenue, expand job opportunities, and revitalize local governments' ESG management culture.

[0003] The limitations of transparent PET bottle recycling and sorting systems are recognized as environmental problems. Of the 300,000 tons of PET bottles produced annually, transparent PET bottles account for 234,000 tons, or 78%. On average, approximately 650 tons of transparent PET bottles are generated daily. While approximately 900 vending machines have been installed across the country to recycle transparent PET bottles, they only collect 2.37 tons per day. Furthermore, the lack of a separate collection system for vending machine PET makes residents' efforts to separate and recycle transparent PET bottles in vain. The majority of transparent PET bottles come from multi-family housing (apartments, townhouses, and multi-unit dwellings), which account for 77.2% of all housing units, generating approximately 185,000 tons annually.

[0004] Meanwhile, flakes made by finally crushing transparent PET bottles are classified into top, mid-low, and low grades, with unit prices per kg ranging from 1,300 won or more, 500 to 750 won, and 350 to 500 won, respectively. The more materials other than PET are mixed into the flakes, the lower the quality and lower the price. Top-grade flakes account for only 6%. Therefore, it is necessary to secure high-quality transparent PET bottles and wash and process them to obtain high-quality flakes.

[0005] A prior document, "A truck equipped with a PET bottle crusher (Utility Model No. 20-0399508)," was registered. However, this prior document lacks a structure for separating PET bottle labels, resulting in a very low PET bottle recycling rate.

[0006] Inspired by this, the applicant proposed in Patent No. 10-2568840 a vehicle-mounted PET bottle recycling chip production device comprising a PET collection unit, a crushing unit for crushing PET bottles fed through the PET collection unit into flake-shaped recycling chips, a cyclone for separating foreign substances from the recycled chips crushed in the crushing unit by centrifugal force, a dust collector for absorbing and collecting foreign substances by being placed on the upper part of the cyclone, a conveying screw for upwardly conveying the recycled chips, and a tonnage rack for storing the recycled chips conveyed and dropped by the conveying screw, characterized in that the PET collection unit is connected to the crushing unit via a label removal unit for removing the label paper wrapped on the PET bottle.

[0007] However, the invention only covers the on-site production of flakes and does not disclose the conversion of flakes into recyclable materials. Therefore, a complete recycling system for transparent PET bottles is needed, encompassing the post-flake production process.

[0008]

[0009] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a transparent PET bottle recycling system and method that combines a vehicle-mounted PET bottle recycling chip production device and a post-process for final production of the recycling chips.

[0010] In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides a transparent PET bottle recycling system, comprising: an eco-PET mobile vehicle; and a second process treatment unit, wherein the finished flake product produced by the second process treatment unit is quantitatively packaged and shipped, and the second process treatment unit includes a washing device, a rinsing device, a dehydration device, a dryer, and a storage unit to remove foreign substances from the primary flakes received from the eco-PET mobile vehicle and to clean the primary flakes, and the eco-PET mobile vehicle includes a mobile generator, a transparent PET bottle crusher, a dust collector, a cyclone device, a conveying screw, and a ton-bag rack in a loading space, and the primary flakes of PET bottles are collected and gathered by the ton-bag rack, and an industrial scale for measuring the weight of the primary flakes is installed at the bottom of the ton-bag rack.

[0011] The above eco-pet mobile vehicle includes a status monitoring device, and the status monitoring device is implemented as a display device that shows GPS and a status table in real time, and the GPS displays places that the eco-pet mobile vehicle should visit in order by number, and the status table displays information on the visiting order, place, current time, collection time, and collection amount, and the collection amount records the final primary flake weight at the corresponding visited place measured by the industrial scale of the eco-pet mobile vehicle, and when all weights are added, the total weight of the primary flakes visited and collected by the eco-pet mobile vehicle can be displayed.

[0012] The second process processing unit includes a management monitoring device, and the management monitoring device is implemented as a display device and includes an identification unit that displays a unique number of each eco-pet mobile vehicle, a time unit that displays the arrival time of the eco-pet mobile vehicle, and a weight display unit that displays the total weight of the first flakes received at the arrival time. The unique number of the eco-pet mobile vehicle can be assigned by reading a unique number or identifier built into the eco-pet mobile vehicle through wireless communication or by reading the license plate of the eco-pet mobile vehicle.

[0013] In addition, the present invention provides a method for recycling transparent PET bottles, comprising: a first step in which an eco-pet mobile vehicle visits a recycling collection site for an apartment, a building, or a single-family home to collect PET bottles and produce primary flakes on site, and a second step in which a second process treatment unit performs the process, wherein the first step comprises: a step in which an eco-pet mobile vehicle moves to a PET bottle collection site for an apartment, a building, or a single-family home; a step in which a label removal unit of a PET crusher of the eco-pet mobile vehicle separates a label on the outside of a PET bottle from the main body; a step in which a main body of the PET crusher of the eco-pet mobile vehicle crushes PET bottles into small pieces and removes foreign substances through a cyclone device; and a step in which the crushed primary flakes are taken out of a ton bag and quantitatively packaged, wherein the final crushed primary flakes have a length of 13 to 15 mm.

[0014] The second process may include: a step of receiving primary flakes from an eco-pet mobile vehicle; a step of sequentially performing high-temperature and low-temperature washing, high-temperature and low-temperature rinsing, mechanical dehydration, and drying processes on the primary flakes, and not including a metal sorting process or a crushing process; and a step of storing the flakes that have completed the process from washing to drying in a storage facility, quantitatively packaging the stored flakes, and supplying them to the outside.

[0015]

[0016] According to the present invention, an economical and efficient transparent PET bottle recycling system is provided that produces flakes produced primarily by an eco-pet mobile vehicle into complete products.

[0017] According to the present invention, flakes are quantitatively produced through a total of 11 steps through two processes, so the recycling process is very economical and quick, and it is effective in that an overall automated facility can be built.

[0018] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the transparent PET bottle recycling system of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 is a drawing illustrating an eco-pet mobile vehicle of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 3 is a drawing illustrating a status monitoring device of an eco-pet mobile vehicle of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 4 is a drawing showing the configuration of the second process processing unit of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 5 is a drawing illustrating a management monitoring device of the second process processing unit of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the entire process of the transparent PET bottle recycling system of the present invention.

[0024]

[0025] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

[0026] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a transparent PET bottle recycling system (1; sometimes abbreviated as “system” hereinafter) of the present invention.

[0027] The system (1) of the present invention includes a plurality of eco-pet mobile vehicles (10) and a second process processing unit (20). The finished product (30) produced by the second process processing unit (20) is quantitatively packaged and shipped.

[0028] The eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) is basically the same as the vehicle-mounted PET bottle recycling chip production device of the applicant's prior patent. Specifically, the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) includes a mobile generator (100), a PET crusher (102), a dust collector (104), a cyclone device (106), a conveying screw (108), and a ton-bag loader (110) in the loading space of a large mobile vehicle such as a truck, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Flakes from PET bottles are collected and gathered in the ton-bag loader (110). An industrial scale (120) is installed at the bottom of the ton-bag loader (110) to measure the weight of the flakes.

[0029] The eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) visits recycling collection sites of apartment complexes, buildings, or single-family homes to collect PET bottles and functions as a flake or recycled chip production device that crushes them on site.

[0030] When the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) stops at several locations and completes flake production, the flakes are quantitatively packaged. The eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) loaded with quantitatively packaged flakes moves to the second process treatment unit (20). The quantitatively packaged flakes are delivered to the second process treatment unit (20). The second process treatment unit (20) processes the flakes into recyclable finished products through washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying. These are quantitatively packaged as finished products (30) and shipped out for transport or export.

[0031] A plurality of different eco-pet mobile vehicles (10) can move to the second process treatment unit (20) to unload each flake. If the operator of the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) is different from the operator of the second process treatment unit (20), the second process treatment unit (20) needs to monitor the weight of flakes received by each eco-pet mobile vehicle (10).

[0032] The eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) of the present invention usually visits several apartment complexes or public collection centers, and considering that the collection locations and times of recycled PET bottles are often irregular or changeable, the vehicle is equipped with a status monitoring device (130) as shown in FIG. 3.

[0033] The status monitoring device (130) is implemented in a display device that displays a GPS (132) and a status table (134) in real time. The GPS (132) is similar to a conventional GPS map, but differs in that it displays locations to be visited by the vehicle in order using numbers. The status table (134) displays information such as the order, location, current time, collection time, and collection amount.

[0034] "Serial number" refers to the order in which the Eco-Pet Mobile Vehicle (10) must visit the collection centers. "Location" corresponds to each number and displays the names of the collection centers to be visited, such as apartments, townhouses, buildings, businesses, organizations, or institutions. Collection times refer to each collection center and the predetermined collection times for PET bottles. In the case of apartments, the collection times are specific days and times of the week. Although the collection days are specific, if the times are not, and visits are possible at any time, the order can be determined by taking into account the travel distances between each visit location to determine the shortest route. The GPS (132) displays numbers in the order in which visits are to be made according to this set sequence. The number currently to be visited can be made more visible by blinking or bolding.

[0035] The collection amount records the final flake weight at the corresponding collection site as measured by the industrial scale (120) of the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10). Adding the weights at all collection sites displays the total weight of flakes collected by the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10).

[0036] The second process treatment unit (20) of the present invention includes a washing device (200), a rinsing device (202), a dehydration device (204), a dryer (206), and a storage unit (208), as illustrated in FIG. 4. The flakes received from the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) still have many foreign substances attached to them, and each flake passes through high / low temperature washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying devices to remove all foreign substances, thereby becoming a finished product (30) that can be reused. In each of the devices (200, 202, 204, 206), wastewater is generated during the process, and a wastewater treatment device is installed to discharge the wastewater.

[0037] The second process processing unit (20) may further include a management monitoring device (230) as illustrated in FIG. 5. The management monitoring device (230) is implemented as a display device and includes an identification unit that displays a unique number of each eco-pet mobile vehicle (10), a time unit that indicates the arrival time of the corresponding eco-pet mobile vehicle (10), and a weight display unit that displays the total weight of the flakes received at the corresponding arrival time. These items of the display device are recorded on a daily basis and monitored by the manager, and the stored daily records can be aggregated on a weekly or monthly basis.

[0038] The unique number of the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) can be assigned by reading the unique number or identifier built into the eco-pet mobile vehicle (1) through wireless communication or by reading the vehicle's license plate.

[0039] In this way, in the present invention, since the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) includes a status monitoring device (130) and the second process processing unit (20) includes a management monitoring device (230), movement and route setting for PET collection can be automated, and the flake weight can be recorded to increase reliability, and the visit and receipt history and flake weight of all eco-pet mobile vehicles (10) can be managed, so that the system can be optimally automated and has the advantages of being easy to maintain and economical.

[0040] Next, a method for recycling transparent PET bottles using the system (1) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The method of the present invention comprises a first step in which an eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) visits a recycling collection site of an apartment complex, a building, or a single-family home to collect PET bottles, produce flakes on site, and package them, and a second step performed in a second process treatment unit (20).

[0041] First, in the first process (S10), the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) moves to a PET bottle collection site such as an apartment complex (S100).

[0042] Next, the label removal unit of the PET crusher (102) of the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) separates the label on the outside of the PET bottle from the main body (S102). Separating the label from the PET bottle in advance constitutes a characteristic of the process of the present invention.

[0043] Next, the main body of the PET crusher (102) of the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) crushes the PET bottle into small pieces and removes foreign substances through a cyclone device (S104).

[0044] Finally, the finely crushed flakes are taken out from the ton bag (110) and quantitatively packaged (S106).

[0045] The final crushed chips have a length of 13 to 15 mm, which can be crushed finer than the conventional 25 to 30 mm, thereby increasing the recycling rate.

[0046] The mobile generator (100) of the eco-pet mobile vehicle (10) of the present invention outputs 380 V, which is higher than the commercial power of 220 V. Therefore, the power consumption is 13.8 kW / h, which is higher than the commercial power of 3.75 kW / h, but the processing speed is more than four times that of the existing one, processing about 50 bottles per minute, and a maximum of 720 kg of flakes can be loaded per vehicle. The collection amount of one vehicle is the same as that of manufacturing 25 vending machine-type collectors, and while the production cost of the existing vending machine-type collector was 500 million won, the production cost of the present invention is 170 million won, making it very economically advantageous.

[0047] Next, in the second process (S20), flakes are received from the recycling company's eco-pet mobile vehicle (100) (S200).

[0048] For flakes, the processes of high-temperature and low-temperature washing (S202), high-temperature and low-temperature rinsing (S204), mechanical dehydration (S206), and drying (S208) are sequentially performed.

[0049] After completing the washing and drying process, the flakes are stored in a warehouse (S210). The stored flakes are packaged in appropriate quantities and supplied to suppliers or purchasers who require them.

[0050] From the perspective of the first process (S10), in the existing recycling system, PET discharged by mixed collection trucks was sorted by local governments, compressed and stored, and then sold to recyclers. From the perspective of the second process (S20), in the existing system, a total of 22 steps were required, including dismantling and sorting at the collection site, metal detection and sorting, wet crushing, and label removal. However, according to the present invention, since the first process (S10) has 4 steps and the second process (S20) has 7 steps including the quantitative packaging step, a total of 11 steps are required, making the recycling process very economical and fast, and also enabling the construction of overall automated facilities. In the second process, the conventional crushing process, metal sorting process, or label removal process is unnecessary.

[0051] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is obvious that various changes and modifications are possible for the present invention, and the scope of the rights of the present invention extends to an area identical or equivalent to the claims described below.

Claims

1. As a transparent PET bottle recycling system, the system: It includes multiple eco-pet mobile vehicles and a second process treatment unit, and the flake finished products produced by the second process treatment unit are packaged in quantity and shipped. The above second process processing unit; The primary flakes received from the eco-pet mobile vehicle are cleaned and foreign substances are removed, including the washing device, rinsing device, dehydration device, dryer and storage unit. The above eco-pet mobile vehicle includes a mobile generator, a transparent PET bottle crusher, a dust collector, a cyclone device, a transfer screw, and a ton-bag rack in the loading space, and the primary flakes of PET bottles are collected and gathered in the ton-bag rack, and an industrial scale is installed at the bottom of the ton-bag rack to measure the weight of the primary flakes, which is a transparent PET bottle recycling system.

2. In paragraph 1, The above eco-pet vehicle includes a status monitoring device, and the status monitoring device is implemented as a display device that shows GPS and a status table in real time. A transparent PET bottle recycling system in which GPS sequentially displays the locations to be visited by the eco-pet mobile vehicle in numbers, and the status table (134) displays the visit order, location, current time, collection time, and collection amount information, and the collection amount records the final primary flake weight at the corresponding visited location measured by the industrial scale of the eco-pet mobile vehicle, and when all weights are added up, the total weight of the primary flakes visited and collected by the eco-pet mobile vehicle is displayed.

3. In paragraph 2, The above second process processing unit includes a management monitoring device, and the management monitoring device is implemented as a display device and includes an identification unit that displays a unique number of each eco-pet mobile vehicle, a time unit that displays the arrival time of the corresponding eco-pet mobile vehicle, and a weight display unit that displays the total weight of the first flakes received at the corresponding arrival time, and the unique number of the eco-pet mobile vehicle is assigned by reading a unique number or identifier built into the eco-pet mobile vehicle through wireless communication or by reading the license plate of the eco-pet mobile vehicle. A transparent PET bottle recycling system.

4. A method for recycling transparent PET bottles, the method comprising: The first process is comprised of an eco-pet mobile vehicle visiting recycling collection sites in apartments, buildings, or single-family homes to collect PET bottles and produce primary flakes on site, and a second process is performed in the second process treatment unit. The above first process; The step where the eco-pet vehicle moves to the PET bottle collection site of an apartment, building or single-family home; A step in which the label removal unit of the PET crusher of an eco-pet mobile vehicle separates the label on the outside of the PET bottle from the main body; The main body of the PET crusher of the eco-pet mobile vehicle crushes PET bottles into small pieces and removes foreign substances through a cyclone device; and A method for recycling transparent PET bottles, comprising a step of taking finely crushed primary flakes out of a ton-backed bag and quantitatively packaging them, wherein the final crushed primary flakes have a length of 13 to 15 mm.

5. In paragraph 4, The above second process; The stage where the first flakes are received from the eco-pet mobile vehicle; A step in which high-temperature and low-temperature washing, high-temperature and low-temperature rinsing, mechanical dehydration and drying processes are sequentially performed on the first flake, and the metal sorting process or crushing process is not included; and A method for recycling transparent PET bottles, comprising the steps of storing flakes that have completed a process from washing to drying in a storage facility and quantitatively packaging the stored flakes and supplying them to the outside.

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