Reusability of plastic

• Main Author: Ng Lim Yong
• Other Authors: Lee Chang Chuan (Advisor)
• Format: Learning Object
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Perlis 2008
• Subjects: Plastics; Plastic scrap; Plastics > Recycling; Plastics industry and trade; Polystyrene; Plastics > Quality
• Online Access: http://dspace.unimap.edu.my/xmlui/handle/123456789/2379

Plastic is light, easy to store and transport, comes in variety of textures and shapes and can hold almost anything. Those properties make it attractive to manufacturers and packagers, who use it for any application. A researched project was designed in order to learn more about the quality of recycled plastics when compared to virgin material. Then, the study was carrier out on two types of materials; they are polystyrene (PS) and Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and it must be well understand. Therefore, the basic understanding about injection machine and tensile test machine must be learnt so this knowledge could be used during the experiment and testing. Otherwise, identify the parameters of the injection molding that could affect the quality of plastic such as cooling time and temperature. The result has shown that PS material is stronger than LDPE and mixture material. Otherwise, most of the recycled material was used to produce the bookmark, their microstructure contained contaminant. No matter virgin or recycled bookmark, the microstructure also contained bubbles. Eventually, the temperature and cooling time have effect on affecting the physical defects, ultimate strength and microstructure of the bookmark. The results of the experiment showed that LDPE and PS plastics could actually be reused again. However for the mixture material, further research should be conducted to improve their property. After collecting the data, an experiment was devised in order to learn more about the capabilities of using recycled plastics for regular applications.