Development of XU Plastic Shredder for Cost Effective Means of Minimizing Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastic Waste Volume

Abstract

This study deals with the development of a polyethylene terephthalate or PET plastic shredder for Xavier University in order to reduce the transportation cost of used plastic bottles to the designated dump site some 9 kilometers uphill. The development of this 2 horsepower plastic shredder is also useful for the reduction of the volume of plastic materials in the Material Recovery Facility of the municipality of Alubijid, Misamis Oriental. Xavier University has a collection of used plastic bottles of around 365 kg per month with an aggregate volume of 17.42 m3 and until the next garbage collection services arrive, the amount of plastic waste will occupy a considerable volume or space. This study focuses on the development and testing of the capacity of the developed plastic shredder. This study is inspired by the project of Mr. Dave Hakkens, called Precious Plastic, that aims to fight plastic pollution by developing machines that aid in recycling all sorts of plastic materials. The objective of this study is to analyze the cost of developing these machines in the Xavier University setting, their cost of operation, and effectiveness through minimizing the volume of plastic bottle. In this study, only polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic are being used. By consultation of local manufacturing firms in developing the machines through their specialized equipment, the authors have found that cost of development is high. However, a compromise between quality and precision has been decided to reduce the overall cost of the development of the machine. The authors were able to develop the proposed machines through the application of skills in machine workshop practices in the mechanical engineering laboratory. The XU plastic shredder has an average plastic volume reduction of 82.41%. With this volume reduction, the number of trips for the garbage truck collector is also reduced by 82.41% thereby saving delivery cost and manpower requirements. The cost of power consumption of the XU Plastic Shredder is only PhP36.52 per hour.