VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

BELAGAVI-590018
Technical Seminar on

RECYCLING OF PLASTIC
Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Engineering
In
Civil Engineering

Submitted by
Mohammad Sameer Ahmed
3GU17CV017

Under the guidance of

Prof. Renukaswamy G. Shivakumar

Professor and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering

GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE

YERMARUS CAMP, RAICHUR-584135
2020-2021
 GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE
Yermarus Camp, Raichur – 584135
(Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum)

Department of Civil Engineering

CERTIFICATE
Certified that the technical seminar entitled Recycling of Plastic carried out by Mr. Mohammad Sameer Ahmed
bearing USN 3GU17CV017, bonafide students Government Engineering College, Raichur in partial fulfilment
for the award of Bachelor of Engineering / Bachelor of Technology Civil Engineering of the Visveswaraiah
Technological University,  Belgaum during the year 2020-2021. It is certified that all corrections/suggestions
indicated for Internal Assessment have been incorporated in the Report deposited in the departmental library.
The seminar report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of technical seminar
prescribed for the said Degree

Prof. Renukaswamy G. Shivakumar

Seminar Guide
Professor and Head of the Department
Dept. of Civil Engineering
GEC-Raichur
 ABSTRACT
This review covers the options for recycling of plastic waste and provides a general overview of the main issue
associated with plastic disposal. It provides a summary of the quantities and type of plastics in the waste stream and also the
main effects of recycling on the plastic material itself. The four types of recycling: primary,secondary,tertiary and quarternary,the
requirements each places on the feed stock, and the uses of each are given.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With immense please, I, Mr. Mohammad Sameer Ahmed, present Recycling of Plastic
seminar report as part of curriculum of Bachelor’s in Engineering. I wish to thank all the people who
gave me unending support.
I am grateful to Dr. M. V Mallikarjun, Principal, and , Head of Department, Professor
Renukaswamy G. Shivakumar for providing all their queried resources for the successful
completion of my seminar.
I express my thanks to all the staff members of the Dept. of Electronics and Communication and
friends for all the help and co-ordination extended in bringing out this seminar successfully in time.
I will be failing in duty if I do not acknowledge with grateful thanks to the authors of the
references and other literatures referred to in this seminar.
I also would like to express my gratitude to my family without their support and love; I
wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything.

Mohammad Sameer Ahmed

 INDEX

1. Introduction

2. Types of Plastic

3. Why to recycle plastic

4. Plastic Recycling

5. Process of Recycling

6. Outcomes of Recycling Plastic

7. Advantages of Recycling Plastic

 Introduction

Historically, recycling in the plastic industry was carried out within manufacturing
companies as part of the standard production process. In extruntion of instance, often where
material and contamination contraints allowed, in-house scrap would be reprocessed with
virgin material, to improve final material production yields. Plastic waste both commercial
and post consumer going to landfill.
Therefore it is only relatively late in the development of the plastic industry that focus
and public perception has shifted towards the problems of plastic waste. This has been driven
by two factors; a growing concern about the costs,both financial and environmentally to land
filling, and the sheer amount of plastic waste finding its way into that waste stream.
This overview will provide a general instructions to the issues affecting plastic
recycling materials from end of life to disposal and overview the main methods in landfill
avoidance associated with plastic waste.
What is plastic ?
 Plastic is a widely used material that is generally made from petroleum
 To broad categories of plastic materials; 1.Thermoplastics
2.Thermosetting plastics

Plastics are a wide range of synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their
plasticity makes possible for plastic to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of
various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being
lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpencive to produce, has led to its widespread use.
Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are
derived from fossil fuel based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum however, recent
industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton
derivatives

In developed economies, about a third of plastic is used in packaging and roughly the same
in buildings in applications such as piping, plumbing or vinyl sliding. Other uses include
automobiles (up to 20% plastic ), furniture, and toys. In the developing world, the
applications of plastic may differ; 42% of India's consumption is used in packaging. In the
medical field, polymer implants and other medical devices are derived at least partially from
plastic. Worldwide, about 50 kg of plastic is produced annually per person, with production
doubling every ten years.

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Indian plastic industry
 Started production of polystyrene in 1957
 LDPE (1959)
 PVC (1961)
 HDPE (1968)
 POLYPROPYLENE (1978)

Low-density polyethelene (LDPE) is high clarity and chemically inert polymer that is widely used,
owing to its flexibility, barrier properties, good impact strength, and stress crack resistance. It is also
one of the more economical polymers available

. Polyvinyl is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer (after

polythene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of PVC are produced each year.
PVC comes in two basic forms: rigid (sometimes abbreviated as RPVC) and flexible. The
rigid form of PVC is used in construction for pipe and in profile applications such as doors
and windows. It is also used in making bottles, non-food packaging, food-covering sheets,
and cards (such as bank or membership cards). It can be made softer and more flexible by
the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. 
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is
a thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is sometimes called
"alkathene" or "polythene" when used for HDPE pipes. With a high strength-to-density ratio,
HDPE is used in the production of plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant
piping, geomembranes and plastic lumber. HDPE is commonly recycled, and has the number
"2" as its resin identification code.

Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a

wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain growth polymerization from
the monomer propylene.
Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins and is partially crystalline and non polar.
Its properties are similar to polyethylene, but it is slightly harder and more heat resistant. It
is a white, mechanically rugged material and has a high chemical resistance.
Bio-PP is the bio based counterpart of polypropylene (PP).
Polypropylene is the second-most widely produced commodity plastic (after polyethylene).
In 2019, the global market for polypropylene was worth $126.03 billion. Revenues are
expected to exceed US$145 billion by 2019. The sales of this material are forecast to grow
at a rate of 5.8% per year until 2021
Types of plastic wastes
 PET or PETE (polyethylene terephalate)

 HDPE (high density polyethylene)

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 LDPE (low density polyethylene)

 PS (polystyrene)

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Why to recycle plastic

 Plastic in the oceans is responsible for the deaths of millions of sea animals

 Plastic never degrades

 Incinerating plastic contributes to green house gases

 Plastic contain harmful chemicals

 Making new plastic requires significant amounts of fossil fuels

 The toxic chemicals escape from the landfills and contaminates the water sources.

 When there are too many plastic in landfills, they are often destroyed in
incineration factories

 Contributes to Greenhouse effect

Plastic recycling

 Process of reprocessing of plastic that already has been used before and giving it
some new reusable form
 More complicated than glass or metal recycling

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic  and reprocessing the
material into useful products. Plastic recycling can reduce dependence on landfill conserve
resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse
gas emissions.
Increasing public awareness of plastic pollution has raised demand for plastic recycling, but
it remains challenging from a technical and economic standpoint, causing it to lag behind
the recycling rates of materials like alluminium, glass and paper. In general, there are many
different types of plastic and these need to be segregate from one another prior to recycling
as they give a poor quality product if mixed. Even when properly sorted and cleaned, the
most common form of recycling in which plastic is re-melted and reformed into new items,
usually results in polymer degradation at a chemical level, so that quality cannot be
maintained. More advanced technologies which may mitigate this degradation suffer from
high capital costs and are more energy-hungry.
 Process of recycling

Collection

Sorting

Washing

Resizing

Identification and separation of plastics

compounding 10
 Collection : The first step in the recycling process is always collecting the plastic material that
is to be recycled.
 Sorting : after plastics are collected and transported to a recycling facility, the next step is
sorting.
* plastic are usually sorted in a few common ways as the type of plastic (material it is made
with ) ,color of plastic or even how it was made.
• Washing : Just like with clothes, fruits/vegetables and many other things, plastic must be washed
before they are further processed. The goal of this step is to remove impurities and everything
that is not made from plastic.
* Most containers and packages have labels, adhesive, or even food residue that must be
removed.
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 Resizing : Resizing consist of shredding or granulating the plastic waste into small particles.
This increases the surface area of the plastic, making it easier to process, reshape, and transport
if needed.
* Additionally, it gives recycling facilities one last opportunity, to remove any non plastic
waste that has made it through the first three steps of processing. This is often done with metal
detectors or magnets that will help remove any left over metal in the mixture.
• Identification and separation of plastics : the identification and separation of plastics is when the
small particles are tested to determine their quality and class.
* the first quality tested is density. This is done by floating the particles in a large tank of
water 12
 * Particles less dense than water will float and more dense particles will sink
*Next their air classification is determined. Air classification is an official term for how thick
or thin particle is. This is done by dropping the particles into a small wind tunnel. The smaller
pieces will fly higher up the tunnel and bigger ones will remain lower.
• Compounding : This is the final step in the recycling process considered the most exciting because
it is when the plastic particles are made into recycled materials usable for future production.
* Compounding is when the small particles are smashed and melted together into plastic
pellets. The pellets can be used in the production of other plastic products.

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OUTCOMES OF RECYCLING PLASTIC

 PET or PETE (POLYRTHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE )

 HDPE (HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE)

 PVC (POLYVINYL CHLORIDE)

1
4
 LDPE (LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE)

 PP (POLYPROPLYELENE)

 PS (POLYSTYRENE)

 OTHERS

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 BENEFITS OF RECYCLING PLASTIC

 Reduces Pollution Across Ecosystem:

*Greenhouse gases are major reason for the increasing pollution levels in our environment.
During the manufacturing of plastics petroleum is burnt. This produces huge amount of
greenhouse gases. Recycling plastic instead of manufacturing it from scratch hence indirectly
reduces emission of hazardous greenhouse gases.
• Requires less Energy and helps Conserve Natural Resources:
* Manufacturing of plastic from scratch requires much more energy compared to producing
products from recycled plastic.
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 Saves Fast Depleting Landfill Space:
* proper waste management through reusing and recycling of plastic can save
significant amount of landfill space.
• Eases the Demand on Fossil Fuel Consumption:
*Millions of barrels of crude oil are used to fuel the demand for plastics in a single
year. Recycling plastic is the most sustainable option to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
• Promotes a Sustainable Lifestyle:
*If business across the world integrate well planned strategies for plastic reuse and
recycling in their waste management approach it will giant leap towards preserving our
precious environment .
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THANK YOU

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