Utilization of Waste Plastic in Designing tiles for Societal Applications

Project: Utilization of Waste Plastic in Designing Tiles for Societal Applications

Project Investigator: Dr. S.K. Dhawan

Description of the technology:

1. Introduction

If there is one type of municipal solid waste that has become ubiquitous in India and most developing countries, and largely seen along the shores and waterways of many developed countries, it is plastic waste. Much of it is not recycled, and ends up in landfills or as litter on land, in waterways and the ocean. In particular, the plastic carry bags are the biggest contributors of littered waste and every year, millions of plastic bags end up in to the environment vis-a-vis soil, water bodies, water courses, etc. and it takes an average of one thousand years to decompose completely.

According to disposal policy of government of India plastic waste has to go to landfill site. In landfill, plastic material may take 1000 years to completely degrade. Plastics in different states of degradation release toxic material that leaches into ground and pollutes ground water. Plastic material should not be burnt. A multitude of toxic gases are released when plastic is burnt. These include carbon monoxide, phosgene, nitrogen oxide, dioxin etc. In addition, burning one kilo of plastic releases 3 kilos of carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes to global warming. It is important to note that government is waking upto the menace of plastic waste. Regulations are being framed against indiscriminate dumping, and proper collection and disposal of plastic waste.

From last two decades environmentalists are very much interested in developing the techniques for the management of solid waste generated through day to day human practices. The 5 R’s (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Recover, and Residual Management) have been considered to be a base of waste management and should be strictly followed in order to promote ecological balance through conscious human behavior and choices. The municipal solid waste contains mixture of biodegradable as well as non-biodegradable matter. The non-biodegradable waste is something that cannot be broken down by other living organisms and consists of plastic bottles, rubber, glass, cans, vinyl, Styrofoam, and metals like aluminum, iron & tin. Apart from other non-biodegradable wastes, the management of plastic waste is mostly the matter of concern today because it is not rotten easily. Plastic wastes generate formidable problems in their management as presently they are not biodegradable, are bulky and can resist incineration. Incineration in fact may not be possible due to production of noxious or toxic fumes. Plastic can remain under the ground for 500 years, which leads to the contamination of soil and thus pollutes the environment.

Piles of plastic in myriad forms lying by the roads, in the sewer, and in city dumps is a common sight in India. But the Supreme Court of India has reprimanded big cities for their poor waste management. The Supreme Court said: "We are sitting on a plastic time bomb," responding to information given by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that India generates 56 lakh tons of plastic waste annually, with Delhi accounting for a staggering 689.50 tons a day.

The metro cities are major culprits with Delhi producing 690 tons a day, Chennai 429 tons, Kolkata 426 tons and Mumbai producing 408 tons. The CPCB told the court that the “total plastic waste which is collected and recycled in the country is estimated to be 9,205 tons per day (approximately 60 per cent of total plastic waste) and 6,137 tons remain uncollected and littered." It said a survey conducted in 60 major cities found that 15,342.46 tons of plastic waste was generated every day, amounting to 56 lakh tons a year.

2.Market Prospects & Survey

National plastic waste management task force in 1997 projected the polymers demand in the country. Table 1 documents the demand of different polymers in India during years 1995-96, 2001-02, 2006-07, 2013-14 and 2014-15. The comparison of demand and consumption from Table 1 indicates that projections are correct. Poly bags and other plastic items except PET in particular have been a focus, because it has contributed to host of problems in India such as choked sewers, animal deaths and clogged soils.

Table 1: POLYMERS DEMANDS IN INDIA (Million Tones)

Source: National Plastic Waste Management Task Force, Community.data.gov.in

Also, in rural India, a strong cultural resistance to the build-up and disposal of excrement, and the view that going outdoors is more wholesome, is leading to rejection of the new infrastructure. A staggering 70% of Indians living in villages - or some 550 million people - defecate in the open. Even 13% of urban households do so. Open defecation continues to be high despite decades of sustained economic growth - and despite the obvious and glaring health hazards.

In order to ensure the hygiene all over the country, it is very necessary to solve the problems of sanitation, safe toilet, and proper waste management. With this aim our honorable Prime Minister launched “the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” on 2nd of October 2014. The program aims to ensure access to sanitation facilities and development of cleaner India.

We have taken this mission a step ahead by introducing concept of “Waste Plastic Management”. We have designed a process for the recycling of waste plastic scrap in to usable products which can be used for making pallets, interlocking pavement tiles, roof tiles and floor tiles.

The waste plastic scrap consisting of LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PP, PPCP after segregation and cleaning were collected from the market. These were then shredded and mixed with specific fillers to convert them into usable product. This shredded material along with fillers are mixed in a high-speed mixer and then extruded and injection/compression moulded in a die to form a tile.

Why Plastic Waste Recycling Technology?

• Disposal of Plastic Waste is a major problem.
• It is non-biodegradable & it mainly consists of low-density polyethylene plastic bags, packaging material, milk pouches plastic scrap made up from PP & HDPE etc.
• Burning of these waste plastic bags causes environmental pollution.
• According to disposal policy of government of India plastic waste has to go to landfill site. In landfill, plastic material may take 1000 years to completely degrade.Plastics in different states of degradation release toxic material that leaches into ground and pollutes ground water.
• Plastic material should not be burnt. A multitude of toxic gases are released when plastic is burnt. These include carbon monoxide, phosgene, nitrogen oxide, dioxin etc.
• In addition, burning one kilo of plastic releases 3 kilos of carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes to global warming.

The main objective of our technology is to utilize waste plastic scrap for designing of materials for utilization of tiles in building of structures and pavement tiles or roof tiles for industrial recycling and for general public for societal benefits.

3. Novelty and Positioning of the Work:

Recycling of waste plastics from poly ethylene bags, milk pouches, packaging material, and other plastic containers in the form of a tile, so that these tiles can be inserted in the panels.

The various issues like mechanical strength, flame retardancy, water permeability and UV- protection from sunlight and antistatic response is the novelty of the concept.

4. Applications of Recycling of Waste Plastic Scrap

Before we move to application, we must understand why it is important to recycle waste plastic and what is plastic waste recycling. Plastic Waste recycling can be defined as a process that converts the plastic scrap into useful product or we can say that plastic waste recycling is a technique which helps in the minimization of plastic waste. The present world in which we are living

These decorative colored tiles can be used in a variety of applications. The application of these tiles in day-to-day life includes:

• Making structures of rooms or toilets
• Deck floors
• Interlock tiles for pavements
• Roof Tiles
• Waterproof, durable floor tiles and floor coverings
• Colorful bricks and blocks to divide up rooms or outdoor areas

5. Environmental Impact

The effects of plastic bags on the environment are really quite devastating. While there are many objections to the banning of plastic bags based solely on their convenience, the damage to the environment needs to be controlled. There is no way to strictly limit the effects of plastic bags on the environment because there is no disposal method that will really help eliminate the problem. While reusing them is the first step, most people either don’t or can’t base on store policies. They are not durable enough to stand up to numerous trips to the store so often the best that citizens can do is reuse them when following pooper scooper laws. The biggest problem with this is that once they have been soiled the end up in the trash, which then ends up in the landfill or burned. Either solution is very poor for the environment. Burning emits toxic gases that harm the atmosphere and increase the level of VOCs in the air while landfills hold them indefinitely as part of the plastic waste problem throughout the globe.

Plastic pollution involves the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans. The prominence of plastic pollution is correlated with plastics being inexpensive and durable, which lends to high levels of plastics used by humans. However, it is slow to degrade. Plastic pollution can unfavorably affect lands, waterways and oceans. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can also be affected through entanglement, direct ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that cause interruptions in biological functions. Humans are also affected by plastic pollution, such as through the disruption of the thyroid hormone axis or hormone levels. Tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals and turtles are killed every year from plastic bag litter in the marine environment as they often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish. Plastic bags, once ingested, cannot be digested or passed by an animal so it stays in the gut. As plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, once an animal dies and decays after ingesting plastic, the plastic is then freed back into the marine environment to carry on killing other wildlife. There is this one environment system, which we all share and it must be treated with the respect and care it deserves. It is already been exploited to the maximum in its resource use and it makes sense to use them again if possible. This means that reserves last longer into the future. Moreover, recycling of plastic waste conserves natural resources, particularly raw materials such as oil and energy. The more that is recycled, the longer will natural resources be available for future generations. It means that there is less environmental impact due to mining, quarrying, oil and gas drilling, deforestation and the likes. If there are fewer of these operations, the environment will be safe from continuous destruction and degradation. Another positive effect of recycling on the environment is that it may reduce emissions of substance such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. From life- cycle analysis of reprocessed plastics and virgin plastics, it is known that the emissions of CO2, SO2, NOX (NO and NO2) are much smaller for recycled plastics compared to that for virgin materials. Hence the environment will be better safe from air pollution and global warming if recycling is adopted on large scales. Recycling of plastic wastes will also safe both ground and surface waters from pollution. This is because if discarded randomly, they choke gutters and even find their way into water bodies that serve as sources of drinking water for communities and towns. They also help to breed leachate that can seep into the ground there by contaminating groundwater bodies as well.

Plastic recycling is growing in India and the market is huge. It is essential to save the recyclable waste material from going to the waste processing and disposal sites and using up landfill space. Salvaging it at source for recycling could make profitable use of such material. This will save national resource and also save the cost and efforts to dispose of such waste.

Currently, very less percentage of waste plastics is recycling whereas the potential is much higher. As plastic consumption is expected to grow in coming years, the market of recycled plastic products is huge.

So, our technology on waste plastic to tiles designing will definitely help our society as more plastic waste will be consumed and useful materials can be made. A tile made by us contains app. 600 bags and if a structure of 7 ft x 4 ft x 4 ft is made that means 42000 plastic bags will be utilized and so waste plastic material can find at least one good usage. It will give employment to poor section as well as the tiles used in making structures like toilets can find usage for poor people which will be economic and a step towards proper sanitation for the people.

By this project, we will not only be solving the major problem of waste plastic scrap disposal but will also be utilizing these plastic scrap into tiles which can be used in designing structures. This way a proper waste plastic management can be formulated.

The use of plastic waste in fabrication of tiles has large environmental value as it consumes one of the most polluting products of modern time. India is likely to increase its plastic consumption manifolds in coming years and disposal of waste would be a major challenge. If efficient and cost-effective technology of plastic tiles is popularized, it may go a long way in solving India's future environmental problems.

Intellectual property status

Granted Patent

Patent number : 384481; 201611025127

Where : India

Current development status

Commercially available technologies

Desired business relationship

Technology selling

Patent licensing

Adaptation of technology to other markets