DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A PLASTIC SHREDDING MACHINE

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research is focused on proffering solution to the problem of plastic waste management in our surrounding environment. Therefore, plastic shredding machine for the recycling of plastic wastes was designed, fabricated and evaluated for performance. The machine consists of the following components: hopper, main enclosure, the chute and the screen made of mild steel sheet; drive shaft and the gears made of mild steel rod; cutters made of mild steel plate; and electric motor which was bought from the market. Performance of the machine was evaluated for polyethylene therephthale (PET), expanded polystyrene (EPS) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and the shredding efficiencies for PET, EPS and HDPE were obtained as 69.8 %, 73.9 % and 89.7 % respectively. The machine developed is suitable for shredding of plastic waste materials in a small scale plastic recycling plant.