Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Abstract

Recycling polymeric materials has become an area of concern worldwide but may not be as economical as consumers believe. We examined the feasibility of recycling discarded soap dispensers after changes were made in PSU bathrooms campus-wide. First, soap dispensers were deconstructed, cleaned, and granulated to reduce the size of the plastic parts to processable dimensions. To achieve optimal granulation of material from the soap dispensers and aid in the processing of post-consumer regrind (PCR) for other projects, we installed a larger capacity size reduction machine. We then successfully determined the base polymer in each different part through infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. We determined that we had three different plastics in one soap dispenser: polypropylene, polyacetal, and polystyrene. After polymer identification, we injection-molded test bars to produce samples for mechanical property determination. We also performed feasibility calculations to determine if we reduced overhead by using recycled materials. In addition to material cost, we also examined the effect of man-hours and quantity of dispensers to fully determine PCR feasibility. Our calculations determined that small-scale recycling was not optimally feasible even with low-cost starting materials. However, a total of 121 soap dispensers (23.11 ft3 of waste products) were kept out of landfills, and new plastic parts were successfully made through recycling. We believe that large-scale application of PCR in new parts and improved product design with end-of-life concerns focused on sustainability can improve the feasibility of PCR for consumer products.

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