Students are turning recycled plastic into new raw material

Cuenca, miércoles 27 noviembre 2019
Part of the process
Part of the process

 

 

Fifth year mechanical engineering students in our branch campus in Cuenca are making recycled raw materials based on residues, waste and plastic scraps from production processes or people´s consumption, and giving them new value.

The plastic that has ended its useful life is identified by its chemical family and once selected it goes through a revaluation process obtaining a raw material that is ready to be processed into any type of plastic element, giving it a new use. 

There is currently massive consumption of single-use plastics, that is why this alternative is used to reduce the production of virgin or new raw material by replacing it with recycled material; the only restriction is that it cannot be used with food.

Jorge Fajardo, professor of mechanical engineering, assures that this procedure will help to decongest sanitary landfills, avoid the contamination of rivers and oceans, and give urban waste generated in the city value. Worldwide, very productive industries have been created for the making of several products such as: plastic wood, tubs, flower pots, toys, noise isolators, in others.

Cristian Carrión, student and member of the new materials research group, said that the first objective of an engineer is to know the needs of society and so when they identified that there is a lot of wasted material, they decided to do something about it.