This thesis describes the problem of the accumulation of plastic waste worldwide and the solutions to reduce or reuse it. It presents the evolution of different plastics over time and describes the plastics most used in the world today. High density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic material and its properties are presented in more detail. The experimental part of the thesis describes the process of separation and collection of waste, preparation of the granulate, including cutting and cleaning. The granulate prepared was then moulded into tubes for tensile testing. The mechanical tests conducted are presented. We have conducted
a tensile test, a Charpy test and a Shore D hardness test. We found that the mechanical properties of the plastic deteriorate with recycling, the largest decrease in values was measured in the tensile test, while the hardness only deteriorated by a small percentage.
|
