ASSUMPTION ILOILO

High School Department

Science Program
Gen. Luna St., Iloilo City

Durability of Local Plastic Bottles

A Science Investigatory Project

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Science X

Submitted by:
Vixonne Dale S. Metran
Lowysa Mari Y. Obafial
Katrina Pearl B. Villaret

Submitted to:
Mr. Stephan Jade D. Navarro
Science Facilitator

March 2020

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 Acknowledgments (third person or first person? Consistent on one pov only)

We would like to say thank you to our Science facilitator, Mr. Stephan Navarro, for
patiently guiding us in the process of conducting our experiments as well as in
writing our paper.

We would also like to say thank you to manong Kapid and Mrs. Licera for providing us
with the materials and information we needed for our experiments. (providing
assistance is better kay inyo man bottles and kmo nag input data – tin)

We are also grateful to each other, our classmates, and our class adviser, Ms. Ivy Cado,
for helping us even in the smallest way during the whole ordeal. (no need to thank
own selves)

And of course, we thank God, without Him, we would not have been able to complete
our project.

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 Biographical Sketch

Vixonne Dale S. Metran is a Filipino-Chinese Grade 10 student of

Assumption Iloilo. He lives in Savannah, Oton, Abilay Norte. He likes to play video
games and read books. Aside from that, Vixonne is also skilled at cooking and
playing sports like basketball and football. Lowysa Mari Y. Obafial is a Grade 10
student of Assumption Iloilo. She lives in Barrio Obrero, Iloilo CIty. Her everyday
activities usually consist of drawing, designing, and creating different kinds of art.
She also enjoys reading novels, watching shows, and dancing. Lowysa has won
awards in sports such as basketball and volleyball. She has joined the choir in local
churches and volunteered in programs that help the community. Katrina Pearl B.
Villaret is also a Grade 10 student of Assumption Iloilo. She lives in Alta Tierra
Village, Jaro, Iloilo City. She is fond of writing, as well as reading different pieces of
literature particularly manga, adventure, fantasy, and mystery novels. Katrina also
takes pleasure in and releases stress through watching and binging on shows and
films. When she has time, she practices and continues to learn new pieces to play on
her violin. Katrina has received awards for her academics such as POMMI and has
joined literary-musical contests during Intramurals and PRISAA.

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 Table of Contents (check proper order)

Title Page i

Acknowledgments ii

Biographical Sketch iii

Appendices v

Bibliography vi

iv
 Appendices

Figure 1 shows the bottles of Brand A Figure 2 shows the bottles of Brand B

Figure 3 shows the bottles of Brand C

v
 Bibliography

• https://foshbottle.com/blogs/fosh/60-ways-to-reuse-plastic-bottles
• https://waterbottles.healthyhumanlife.com/plastic-water-bottle-pollution-plastic-
bottles-end/
• https://www.plastictechnologies.com/test/dart-impact-bruceton-staircase-method-2/
• https://www.plastictechnologies.com/test/hot-fill-container/
• https://www.plastictechnologies.com/testing/preform-and-bottle-testing/

vi
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Background of the Study (plastic bottles in plural so pronoun should be plural)

Plastic bottles are both harmful and useful to us. In a way, it (‘they’ since plural plastic
bottles. May ara pgd more mag read ka) is harmful because continuously using them excessively
can build up the plastic waste in our environment. Plastic bottles are what we call “single use
plastic”. Plastic was designed to last for hundreds - if not
thousands - of years and these plastic bottles may only be used once, without being properly
recycled. Another, plastic bottles are made from a petroleum product called polyethylene
terephthalate (PET), which requires giant amount of fossil fuels to make and transport. On the
other hand, it can also be useful because these bottles can be reused in many different ways.
Notable examples would be for our very own EcoBrick project in Assumption, for refill of water
and other beverages, for terrariums or better known as “bottle planters”, watering containers,
hanging baskets, pencil cases, food storages, and many others. The problem though is that these
plastic bottles can be easily bent and destroyed, which makes them of no use. Here, we will
know which of the local plastic bottles is the most durable to reuse.

We will test the durability of the local plastic bottles that us students commonly use or
consume. To do this, we will try two different methods called the “Hot Fill”, wherein we will
evaluate the performance of a heat set bottle filled with heated water, and the “Dart Impact” - a
simpler version of it - in which we will drop a bottle from a height of 37 feet and find out if it is
truly durable by examining the state the bottle is in after the fall. We will be using three different
local brands for this study.

The researchers (first pov or third pov, make clear) want to test the durability of these
three local plastic bottles so that we will know which is the most appropriate to reuse. We want
to conduct this study because - as mentioned previously - we want to reuse these bottles instead
of immediately throwing them away to reduce the harmful and long-term effects of plastic in our
world. We believe that having the knowledge of which plastic bottle is the most durable, it will
enable us to make wise choices in helping the environment, as both consumers and caretakers of
God’s creation in the future.
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Objectives

This study aims to:

1. To find out which bottle is the most durable
2. To provide other uses for these used plastic bottles
3. To realize the importance of recycling plastic (particularly plastic bottles)

Statements of the Problem

This study aims to give answer to the following questions:

1. Which local plastic bottle is the most durable? (if gusto mo specific gd and more
questions/objectives kay muna usually, pwede man na: which plastic bottle is most durable
when heated? And, which plastic bottle is most durable when falling/dropped from a higher
point in an area?)
2. How can we reuse these bottles? (must present supporting info/evidence wherein the bottles
can be reused pra masabat ang question nga ni)
3. Why it important to recycle plastic bottles? (“considering the durability of the bottle, one can
recycle in many ways without the need to waste” explain further lng point da pra masabat
ang mangkot nga ni)

Hypothesis

• If one (1) plastic bottle ends up in a worse condition than the others, then it is the least durable
plastic bottle.

Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

brand of local plastic the durability of each

bottles local plastic bottle
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The brand of the local plastic bottles is the independent variable because it is the one being
manipulated while the durability of the plastic bottles is the dependent variable because its
durability depends on the brand.

Significance of the Study

Environment

This study will help the environment in many ways, especially in the reduction of plastic
- specifically single use plastic - waste in our world today. We hope that by the end of our
experiment, we will be able to find out which local plastic bottle is the most durable and by
doing so, we will be able to provide other uses for it instead of just immediately throwing them
away, like reusing these plastic bottles as plant pots, decors e.g. Christmas decors, flower
designs, toys, and other ingenuity.

Companies

This study will enable companies to start making plastic bottles that are not only durable,
but also environment friendly (wdym by this?). Nowadays, many people, especially the youth,
see big companies all over the world as one of the big factors of the continuous and gradual
destruction of the Earth. With our study, companies would hopefully start to become more aware
and concerned about not only the increase of their profits, but also the well-being of our planet.
Furthermore, having the knowledge of which plastic bottle is more (more or most? Uniform lng)
durable will also lessen their expenses by cutting the frequency of purchasing the raw materials
that make up the substandard plastic bottles and lessen damage returns. More consumers
patronize durable and good quality plastic bottles for they are not easily damaged during
handling.
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Government

This study will benefit the government for it could lessen the volume of waste acquired
daily. It can help slow down the problem of acquiring additional waste facility which requires
wider, safer, and a more ecofriendly system of disposal. Problems related to health could be
lessened as well. Aside from that, they would also be able to use the data we collected to create
programs or policies that could help in the reduction of plastic waste in our world - more
specifically, in our very own country, the Philippines.

Society

This study would benefit the society and the future generations, because with the
information obtained, we would be able to share our knowledge and help people make wise
decisions, especially in terms of buying products that use plastic bottles. If the society knows
what is the most durable, they will know which ones they should consume and which ones they
should avoid. Furthermore, students and the working class of the society can reuse durable
bottles for refill purposes. They will also benefit by lessening their expenses when instead of
buying new and expensive bottled drinks, they’ll reuse the ones they have at home instead.

Researchers

Conducting this study would benefit researchers because through this experiment, they
will be able to further advance their skills especially in acquiring information about their studies.
By obtaining knowledge about certain things, researchers would be able to share their ideas and
thoughts and help in further enhancing the state of various aspects of our lives right now.

Materials and Methods

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Research Design

This study used the experimental design. We attempted to determine which plastic bottle
would be able to withstand two tests of durability (i.e. filling it with boiling hot water and
dropping it from a 3-storey building). We chose the samples based on which plastic bottles are
most commonly used in our school.

Location of the Study

We chose to conduct our study in school, specifically, in two places: the Chemistry
Laboratory and in the third floor of the High School building. The reason for our choosing of
these two places is because firstly, our first test of durability (Hot Fill) requires equipment that
can only be found within the Chemistry Laboratory. We believed that we would be able to
conduct the Hot Fill test there quickly and without much problem. Secondly, we chose to
conduct our Dart Impact experiment in the third floor of the High School building because that is
the tallest one in our school.

Materials

The materials needed for our experiment are:

1. Six (6) each of the three local plastic bottles chosen
2. Water
3. Kettle / Electric thermos
4. Funnel
5. Thermometer
6. Tape Measure

Flow Plan

Conduct testing on
Conduct testing on the local plastic
Gathering of the local plastic bottle bottle
Materials using the “Hot Fill” using a simpler
method version of the “Dart
Impact” method
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Compare the results

Data Presentation
of the tests

Procedures

A. Gathering of Materials
1. Gather three (3) each of the three local plastic bottles we have chosen to test on.
2. Make sure all the other materials needed to conduct the experiments are there.
3. Find a place (Chemistry Laboratory and High School Building) to conduct the
experiments.

B. Test 1: Hot Fill

1. Place all the nine (9) plastic bottles in a clean and clear space.
2. Heat the water inside the kettle / electric thermos until it reaches 90 degrees.
3. Once the water is at the designated temperature, pour it inside each of the plastic bottles.
4. Observe what happens to each bottle after 15 minutes. Write down all observations.

C. Test 2: Dart Impact

1. Measure the height (37 feet) of the High School Building from the first to the third floor.
2. Go up to the third floor.
3. Drop all the plastic bottles at the same height and drop point, but separately.
4. Examine the state the 3 plastic bottles are in after the fall. Write down all observations.

D. Comparing the Results

1. Compare the appearance and quality of each plastic bottle after the two tests were
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conducted.
2. Find out which local plastic bottle is the most durable.
3. Offer a few ways to make use of these plastic bottles instead of throwing them away
immediately after one use.

Results and Conclusion

Results

I. Test 1: Hot Fill

Brand A (Before) Brand A (After)
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OBSERVATIONS (after the test)

Bottle
Bottle
A1:
C1:
shrank
slightly
in size,
shrank
compressed
in size
Bottle
Bottle
A2:
C2:
shrank
slightly
in size,
shrank
compressed
in size
Bottle
Bottle
A3:
C3:
shrank
slightly
in size,
shrank
compressed
in size

Brand B (Before) Brand B (After)

Brand A (Before) Brand A (After)

OBSERVATIONS (after the test)

Bottle B1: shrank in size, compressed

Bottle B2: shrank in size, compressed, crooked stature
Bottle B3: shrank in size, compressed,
OBSERVATIONS (afterslightly crooked stature
the test)

Bottle A1: no change

Bottle A2: slightly bent on the side
Brand C (Before) Brand C (After)
Bottle A3: slightly bent on the side

II. Test 2: Dart Impact

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Brand B (Before) Brand B (After)

OBSERVATIONS (after the test)

Bottle B1: lid and stature slightly crooked

Bottle B2: bent on the side, slightly crooked
Bottle B3: bent on the side

Brand C (Before) Brand C (After)

OBSERVATIONS (after the test)

Bottle C1: no change

Bottle C2: slightly bent on the side
Bottle C3: slightly bent at the bottom
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Conclusions

After careful analysis of the data gathered from the experiment, the following
conclusions were drawn out:

1. The most durable local plastic bottle out of the three is Brand C.

2. This plastic bottle can be reused as a portable water container, a pot for plants
(terrariums), an ecobrick, a cover for lightbulbs (a lamp), a watering container, a
pencil case, a container for storing various things, a piggy bank, a decoration, a
vase, a music shaker, a toy for kids and animals alike, a snack bowl, and many
others.

3. Plastic bottles should be recycled and not thrown away immediately after one use
because they are a major contributor to the plastic waste in our environment.

Recommendations

1. We recommend future researchers to test a plastic bottle’s durability in other

ways using other methods/tests.

2. We recommend future researchers to use a more specific brand for the plastic
bottles.
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3. (we recommend future researchers to test not only the durability of the plastic
bottle, but other components that are relevant in making plastic.)