SINGLE KNIFE SET PLASTIC SHREDDER MACHINE

Pineda, John Deihl R., Delda, Ray Noel M., Cabahug, Algier O.,

Tallara, Kevin Wayne C., Zaratan, Kim Zoren M., Carranceja, Macraine Janh C.

ABSTRACT

The continuous increases in usage of plastic caused a serious environmental

issue. As plastics developed into an environmental problem, additive manufacturing
has emerged as the new frontier of rapid prototyping. The technology uses plastic as
medium to reproduce devices and other objects which range from prosthetics to
mechanical parts.

To solve the issue of the high percentage of plastic existence, and to have a
sustainable plan for the Additive Manufacturing Research Laboratory of Bataan
Peninsula State University, a plastic shredder is designed and fabricated with a single
shaft mechanism which can be useful for micro, small, and medium enterprises and
laboratory use. To implement the concept of a plastic shredder machine, electrical
components along with mechanical components like frame, hopper, drive system and
shredder set up is designed and produced.

The machine is used for lacerations and cutting of plastic into small flakes,
which are irregular in shape that can be used or processed for additive manufacturing
processes and injection molding; in hope of recovering raw materials that can be fed
into an extrusion machine to form filaments to be further used in 3D printing machines.

KEYWORDS: polymers, plastics, shredder, environmental issues, cutting

1
INTRODUCTION

Additive Manufacturing has emerged as the new frontier of production both in

engineering and medical science. It is the process of building an object one layer at a
time and is the complete opposite of subtractive manufacturing in which objects to be
produced are created by cutting away at a solid block in order to form the desired
product [1]. Bataan Peninsula State University – Main Campus established an Additive
Manufacturing Research Laboratory – the first in the Philippines; it is known as AMReL
to many. The laboratory aims to produce products and use the waste for manufacturing
by means of recycling with the establishment of a plastic recycling facility within the
university premises.

Philippines, being a country of 103 million people drowning in poverty - widely

support single – use plastic products such as shampoo sachets, instant coffee, cooking
oil, seasoning and toothpaste. Low value products usually end up in landfills [2]. Plastic
bottles are known to contain chemical that have been linked to reproductive diseases,
respiratory problems and dizziness. Each year, about 2.7 tons of plastic wastes are
produced by the Philippines, with half a million metric tons known to exit in the Pacific
Ocean [2]. The Philippines has a high collection rate for plastic waste. However,
according to the organization, Ocean Conservancy, 70 to 90 percent end up in water
ways thus contaminating bodies of water like the ocean [3].

Shredding plastic waste is another alternative for reducing tons of waste.

Precious Plastic, a start – up of Dave Hakkens – built machines that are possible
solutions to plastic pollution. Blueprints for the machine are available online for
everyone to build and use to make products by means of recycling plastic wastes [4].
Hakkens aims to address the reported 311 million tons of plastic waste created around
the world annually. In the Philippines, industries like electronics, construction, food and
cosmetics are aligned in the use of plastic products. The applications of plastics are
increasing from building and infrastructure; transport and investments are gradually
shifting to these platforms [4].

Figure 1: Resin consumption of the country from 2001 to 2011

(Source: National Statistics Office)

Mechanical recycling of plastics like shredding or agglomeration is primarily

necessary in converting the waste plastic into useful form. Other recycling methods,

2
include extrusion and injections method [5]. Recycling of plastic starts with the
shredding process of waste material with the use of shredders and grinder [6]. The
basic principle of such mechanisms is to reduce large volumes of plastic into small
pieces, in form of flakes [6,7].

Plastics are shredded between rotor knives and a fixed counter knife in the
presence of a liquid such as water [8,9]. The plastic that has been shredded can be
refined by a mesh installed underneath the machine. To further tackle the problem, a
plastic extruder was developed to convert plastic waste in form of flakes to bricks and
filaments for additive manufacturing.

METHODOLOGY

Conceptual Framework

Figure 2: Conceptual framework of the study

Design Requirements

The prototype produced must have an effective medium for lacerations and
cutting of plastic waste into small flakes. This includes the fabrication of a blade
system, stand and funnel that will lead the plastic waste into the blade system without
the shredded plastic hurling into the air. AMReL is in need of a shredder to convert
plastic wastes in forms of rough or support to flakes, to be further used for injection
molding and extruding. The size and portability of the machine was also considered.

Several designs were considered. However, upon uniqueness of each design;

a final design was fabricated and used for testing. The quality, treatment and size of
the shredded plastic were taken into consideration as to not affect the post –
processing of the materials.

Materials and Fabrication Procedures

The final design was formed with consideration to the appearance and design
of the motor and gearbox to be used. The frame was assembled and designed to be
leveled to the hand, paving way for the plastic to be inserted into the hopper and

3
shredding unit easily. The frame was made from iron angle bar, and the hopper was
made from 1 mm metal sheet. The shredder unit has 14 blades which were equal in
terms of size for the fixed knives. The blades were made from heat treated steel.

Experimental Design and Procedures

Table 1. Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Factor Responses Unit
Percent of Shred %
Number of Pass Throughs Percentage of 5 mm %
Time s

The study employed a general factorial experimental design with four

blockings, one factor and three responses. The three responses were: Percentage of
Shredded Plastic which range from 87.67 % to 91.4307 %; Percentage of 5 mm Shred
which range from 19.1256 % to 84.1366 % and Time which range from 9.66 s to 20.13
s, respectively.

During the testing, the following responses were recorded. The shreds were
measured after each pass through. The samples have undergone microscopic
observation of the lacerations, and were measured using a microscopic software called
AM Scope that can measure small specimens ranging from plastic to bacteria.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Final Equipment Design

Figure 3: Final design

The overall measurement of the design is a result of an extensive research and

wide consideration of factors that might affect the position of the parts in order to
prevent vibration for the couplings and electrical wirings.

4
Interpretation of Results

Range of Difference in Terms of Percentage

38 68

36.4897
37 66

65.0011
35.489
36 64
63.6882

Range of Highest Difference

Range of Lowest Difference

35 61.5962 62
34.773
33.8893

34 60
59.6251

33 58

32 56

31 54
ABS HDPE PET PLA
Lowest Difference 35.489 33.8893 34.773 36.4897
Highest Difference 61.5962 59.6251 63.6882 65.0011
Axis Title

Lowest Difference Highest Difference Linear (Lowest Difference)

Figure 4: Range of lowest difference in terms of percentage

PLA and PET have the highest average in terms of change in volume thus PLA
is considered to be much faster to decrease in terms of volume compared to HDPE.
However, ABS showed a high percentage also. While comparing the obtained data it
was established that an increase of reduction in volume is accompanied by another
reduction in post – shredding weight of the material.

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 Percentage of 5 mm Flakes
120 120

87.8538
100 100
91.1521
80.0105

Range of Percentage
80 80.929 80

Range of Percentage 60 59.6251 60

20.1335 20.6109
40 33.8893 40

20 20

0 0
ABS HDPE PET PLA
Percentage of 5 mm Flakes 20.1335 20.6109 87.8538 33.8893
80.0105 80.929 91.1521 59.6251
Axis Title

Percentage of 5 mm Flakes Linear (Percentage of 5 mm Flakes)

Figure 5: Percentage of 5 mm flakes

Figure 5 shows the range of percentage of 5 mm flakes that were present in 10

grams of the used plastic types for testing. PET, among the rest, showed some
stillness in terms of change of size.

Percentage of Presence of 5 mm Flakes

100
Decline and Rise of Percentage of

87.8538
90 91.1521
Presence of 5 mm Flakes

80 80.929
80.0105
70
60 59.6251
50
40 33.8893
30 20.1335 20.6109
20
10
0
ABS HDPE PET PLA
Percentage of 5 mm Flakes 20.1335 20.6109 87.8538 33.8893
80.0105 80.929 91.1521 59.6251
Axis Title

Percentage of 5 mm Flakes Linear (Percentage of 5 mm Flakes)

Figure 6: Percentage of 5 mm Flakes

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 Figure 6 shows the decline and rise of percentage of 5 mm flakes, of all the
samples PET showed the highest percentage of presence of 5 mm flakes. However,
after a few pass throughs conducted on other samples; it suddenly showed a gradual
decline.
There was a correlation between the machine speed and the mechanical
properties of plastics. However, the most significant was the design of the shredding
unit itself. The recovery efficiencies range from 81.2365 % to 87.89538 %. The
percentage of shredded plastic according to the desired size range from 80.0105 % to
91.1521 % for PET. The average particle size is around 4.98 mm2 to 13.3 mm2 and the
production cost of the shredding machine is Thirty-Six Thousand and One Hundred
Fifty-Four Philippines Pesos (Php 36,154) only. A normal shredder costs around
40,000 to 75,000 pesos in the Philippine market.
The results obtained further shows that the machine could be very useful in
small – scale businesses, medium enterprises and additive manufacturing laboratories
working on plastic recycling or just for aiming a waste recycling scheme of 3D printed
polymers. It also shows that it is favorable in situations where considerable plastic has
to be shredded.

CONLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations for future improvement of the design is the addition of
rubber pads on each foot of the metal frame to reduce the noise and movement of the
shredder during usage. A screen that will act as a cover is also suggested as to prevent
the hurling of plastic materials which can cause danger to parts of the face of the
operator and other users. The shredder, being a heavy machine, is not that portable
thus rollers or a wheeled carrier must be fabricated and attached in order to increase
chances of portability.
The shredder must not be used to shred large and thick pieces of plastic such
as large containers. The shredder is solely fabricated to lessen the volume of wastes
of additive manufacturing laboratories and small – scale plastic recycling enterprises.
Raising the power rating or change in motor rating is also recommended as to increase
the efficiency of the machine in terms of shredding harder plastics, so far; the machine
operating on a 1.5 HP motor is efficient enough for its purpose of volume reduction of
plastic bottles and polymer laboratory wastes.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank Prof. John Ryan C. Dizon, who has been very
welcoming with the use of his laboratory – the BPSU Additive Manufacturing Research
Laboratory.
We dedicate this work to our instructors and professors who instilled us the knowledge
in order to form this study - Engr. Dan William C. Martinez, Engr. Gerald S. Robles,
Engr. Brian J. Tuazon and Engr. Arman Ray N. Nisay who instilled us the knowledge
required in order to finish this research work. They were the giants who made us stand
on their shoulders.
We would like to mention, Mr. Eliseo G. Pineda for his unwavering support
during the fabrication of our prototype. Mr. Marvin D. Tan of 8teas Café for donating
the cups used in the testing phase of our research. It would not be possible without the
cups donated solely for testing, as it would have costed a fortune to acquire such.

REFERENCES

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https://phys.org
[2] Mateo, J. (2018, May 3). Philippines major contributor to plastic in ocean.
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[3] Chow, L. (2015, Oct. 15). These 5 countries account for 60% of Plastic Pollution
in Oceans. Retrieved from https://ecowidth.com
[4] Tucker, E. (2016, Apr. 14). Dave Hakkens update open source Precious Plastic
recycling machines. Retrieved from https://dezeen.com
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Processing of Commingled Waste Plastics. Mangaluru, India: St. Joseph
Engineering College
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