Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

In exploration, we find new techniques, new knowledge, even develop new

substances, gadgets, equipment, processes or procedures, imagination and skills are

employed by the researchers. The commodities, new devices, services, in technology

are needs of man for a better fuller life which is the concern of the research. These

useful arts are the products of the technological environment and the end-user is

society in general. The fast-growing trend and innovation in technologies today

prompts researchers to conduct studies about shredder for the waste plastics. This

Chapter presents a brief review of literature and studies, both local and foreign that is

related to these studies.

In waste management, industrial shredders for waste products play a very

crucial role. The benefits of using mega-shredders in large-scale waste disposal

systems recycling centers and municipal landfills are related to material reduction.

Asphalt, rubber, wood, plastics and similar materials can be quickly condensed to a

mere fraction of their original size. Also, of note, bio-degradable waste decomposes

faster when shredded. If properly shredded, the materials that are buried in landfills

take much less space. (Leblanc, 2018)

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastics and

reprocessing the material into useful products. According to the Beverage Marketing

Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006,

that number jumped to 28.3 gallons. Below list some plastic recycling facts.

More than 2.4 billion pounds of plastic bottles were recycled in 2008.

Although the number of plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. has grown every year
since 1990, the actual recycling rate remains steady at around 27 percent. In 2007,

more than 325 million pounds of wide-mouth plastic containers were recovered for

recycling. (This included deli containers, yogurt cups, etc.)

In recent years, the number of U.S. plastics recycling business has nearly

tripled. More than 1,600 businesses are involved in recycling post-consumer plastics.

Plastics in the U.S. are made primarily (70 percent) from domestic natural gas. Plastic

bags and product wraps (known collectively as “plastic film”) are commonly recycled

at the many collection programs offered through major grocery stores. Recycling 1

ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space. During Keep America Beautiful

2008 Great American Cleanup, volunteers recovered and recycled 189,000,000 PET

(plastic) bottles that littered highways, waterways and parks. (Harden Shredder

Machinery Ltd., 2013)

Life-cycle analysis can be a useful tool for assessing the potential benefits of

recycling programs. If recycled plastics are used to produce goods that would

otherwise have been made from new (virgin) polymer, this will directly reduce oil

usage and emissions of greenhouse gases associated with the production of the virgin

polymer (less the emissions owing to the recycling activities themselves). However, if

plastics are recycled into products that were previously made from other materials

such as wood or concrete, then savings in requirements for polymer production will

not be realized (Fletcher & Mackay 1996).

It is possible in theory to closed-loop recycle most thermoplastics, however,

plastic packaging frequently uses a wide variety of different polymers and other

materials such as metals, paper, pigments, inks and adhesives that increases the

difficulty. Closed-loop recycling is most practical when the polymer constituent can

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be effectively separated from sources of contamination and stabilized against

degradation during reprocessing and subsequent use. Ideally, the plastic waste stream

for reprocessing would also consist of a narrow range of polymer grades to reduce the

difficulty of replacing virgin resin directly. For example, all PET bottles are made

from similar grades of PET suitable for both the bottle manufacturing process and

reprocessing to polyester fiber, while HDPE used for blow molding bottles is less-

suited to injection molding applications. As a result, the only parts of the post-

consumer plastic waste stream that have routinely been recycled in a strictly closed-

loop fashion are clear PET bottles and recently in the UK, HDPE milk bottles. Pre-

consumer plastic waste such as industrial packaging is currently recycled than post-

consumer packaging, as it is relatively pure and available from a smaller number of

sources of relatively higher volume. The volumes of post-consumer waste are,

however, up to five times larger than those generated in commerce and industry to

achieve high overall recycling rates, post-consumer as well as post-industrial waste

need to be collected and recycled. (Patel et al. 2000)

Injection moulding is a plastic-forming process used in the production of most

of the plastic parts (about 70%) in automobile industries. The manufacturing industry

has gone through significant changes in the recent years. For a good manufacturing

plant, the most recommended thing is quality, efficiency and operating cost. These

parameters depend on the function of the equipment’s used in the industry. Nowadays

a remarkable improvement has taken place in the maintenance management of the

physical assets and productive systems to reduce the wastage of energy and resources.

Because of this, the organization should introduce a maintenance system to improve

and increase both the quality and productivity continuously. OEE is one of the

performance evaluation methods that are most common and popular in the production

8
industries. In this work, the OEE of the injection moulding process was increased

from 61% to 81% through the implementation of availability, better utilization of

resources, high quality products and also raised employee morale and confidence.

([Link] , [Link], 2014)

Plastic is a very good thermal insulator and therefore it is difficult to cool

quickly. When compared with the conduction of heat in plastic it is 2000 times much

slower than steel. In a plastic extrusion line, a sealed water bath is acted upon by a

carefully controlled vacuum to keep the newly formed and still molten tube or pipe

from collapsing. For products such as plastic sheeting, the cooling is achieved by

pulling through a set of cooling rolls. Sometimes, on the same line a secondary

process may occur, before the product has finished its run. Once the product is cooled,

it can be spooled, or cut into desired length for further use. (Chia Feng Juang and

Chao Hsin Hsu 2005).

The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) established a classification system in

1988 to allow consumers and recyclers to identify different types of plastic.

Manufacturers place an SPI code, or number, on each plastic product, usually

moulded into the bottom.

Polyethylene Terephthalate sometimes absorbs odours and flavours from

foods and drinks that are stored in them. Items made from this plastic are commonly

recycled. PET(E) plastic is used to make many common household items like

beverage bottles, medicine jars, rope, clothing and carpet fibre.

PET has a wide range of applications and is extensively used in many products

containing plastic. As PET is a thermoplastic, within a certain temperature band the

polymer becomes extremely pliable, making it easy to mould in to shapes. This occurs

9
between the glass transition temperature and the melting point, which for PET are

75oC and 255oC respectively. Once cooled, PET will return to a solid form, making

the plastic polymer extremely useful for drinks bottles. It is also almost completely

impermeable. Chemically, PET is a thermoplastic polymer, and is made up of

polymerized, repeating units of C10H8O4. (Thomas, 2012)

Compression molding process is followed by two step first one preheating and

pressurizing. The compression molding system works as the heated matched metal

mold set is mounted in a large press. A pre-weighed charge of molding compound is

loaded into the mold and the press is closed. Under the pressure and temperature of

the tool set the material cures rapidly. (Farhan, 2015)

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Conceptual Framework

START

FILL THE HOPPER WITH

START THE MOTOR No

SHREDDED PLASTIC
WASTE (Average size –
10mm)

Yes

HEATING

MOLDING

FINISH PRODUCT

PRODUCT TESTING

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