Unknown Plastic Waste Workflow

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Revision as of 22:16, 28 July 2020 by Eric (talk | contribs) (Added some more links under the "External Links" section)
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Basics

  • In recycling it is best done with pre-sorting and/or labels/indicators on the plastic itself
  • In most collection systems this is do-able
  • The main area where this becomes an issue are small debris and/or degraded plastic
  • This is common in picking up waste such as Beach Plastic
  • Thus in order to aid in recycling efforts a sorting and processing workflow is needed
  • This page also assumes the user does not have a Plastic Type Sensor available
  • So far this page's process is mainly done via sink/float tanks, but we should also look into:

Process Proposal 1

Basics

  • Uses float/sink seperation using these media:
    • Water
    • Brine / Concentrated Salt Water
    • Oil (most likely canola/rapeseed or mixed plant oil, but any oil should work)
    • Potentially any alchohol, or sugar solution?

Pre-Sorting Processing

  • Plastic is collected
  • It is then held in "dirty side bulk storage" (most likely spread on tarps)
  • It is then photographed to easily document composition/type of products for data gathering purposes
  • It is then rinsed in water, cleaned with soap water, then rinsed to remove general dirt and salts
  • Then it is shredded
  • Then it is moved on "pre-sorted clean bluk storage"

Sorting

  • First the plastic flakes are dumped into a container containing water (DI not needed, but will very "hard water" effect the process?)
  • 1,3, 6 sink and 2, 4, 5 float
  • Then the streams are seperated (should manual batch skimming, then lifting up a bag/seive from the base be used, ***or*** , some sort of scaled down continous system be used?)

Internal Links

External Links