Re-usability of plastics

A research project was designed in order to learn more about the quality of recycled plastics when compared to new material. The study was carried out by researching and learning about how the recycling process operates. Further research was then conducted on the seven different types of resins that exist in the recycling world today. After collecting the data, an experiment was devised in order to learn more about the capabilities of using recycled plastics for regular household applications. The results of the experiment showed that most of the seven recyclable plastics could actually be used again as along as special care was taken to ensure that the quality of the recycled product was equivalent to that of the virgin material. However, it was determined that a more rigorous recycling program for plastic would be feasible but it is not a practical endeavor for economic purposes. As a result, many of the manufacturers within the plastics realm prefer to use new plastic as opposed to recycling their products.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Bonas, Calvin (Calvin A.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alexander Slocum.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32877

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32877