DETERMINATION OF CONDITIONS OF OPERATION OF A MICRO PLANT PLASTIC RECYCLING

Abstract

The large number of plastic products produced today requires the reuse and recycling of these products. In Antofagasta,
currently there are few enterprises related to the recycling or reuse of plastic, in the composition of the garbage collected in
homes it is found that more than 60% corresponds to plastics and cardboard. The existing plants, of treatment and recovery of
the plastic, use a high volume of said material, which is almost impossible to achieve without an automated collection,
separation and classification system. Currently the Department of Industrial Engineering, with a micro recycling plant, which
was funded by CORFO, through the award of the Green Plastic project, which allowed to obtain, as a prototype, from an open
design obtained from the Precius Plastic platform, four machines: Chopper, Injector, Extruder and Oven or compressor. Once the
machines were put into operation, they presented various operating problems, which is why this research project was born,
whose objective is to establish the best operating conditions for a micro plastic treatment plant. Therefore, it is sought to
determine the quality of plastic to be obtained through the plastic recycling process.