A Local Solution to Plastic Pollution

dc.contributor.advisorTalley, Austin
dc.contributor.authorQuinto, Michael
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-28T16:38:07Z
dc.date.available2024-03-28T16:38:07Z
dc.date.issued2023-12
dc.description.abstractPlastic pollution is a well-known issue across the globe with staggering facts such as: “Only 9% of all plastic produced has been recycled,” and “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a floating island of plastic waste spanning an area that is over twice the size of the state of Texas.” Locally, this issue persists as 73% of Texas resident’s recycling bins go to the landfill and most municipal recycling facilities only recycle two types of plastic. The driving question behind my capstone was: How can we as consumers take plastic recycling into our own hands? Over the past three years, I have been working to build a plastic recycling workspace on campus. Using the available equipment in the Ingram Hall Makerspace I have built a series of small-scale recycling machines to process plastic for recycling. Using compression and injection molding techniques, we can take post-consumer plastic waste and repurpose it into new products. But there is more work to do like improvements to the machines and optimized processes that future Texas State students can tackle in the next three-to-five years.
dc.description.departmentHonors College
dc.formatText
dc.format.extent23 pages
dc.format.medium1 file (.pdf)
dc.identifier.citationQuinto, M. (2023). A local solution to plastic pollution. Honors College, Texas State University.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/18338
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectplastic
dc.subjectrecycling
dc.subjectprecious plastic
dc.subjectplastic recycling
dc.subjectshredder
dc.subjectplastic shredder
dc.subjectTexas State University
dc.subjectIngram Hall makerspace
dc.subjectbobcats repurpose
dc.titleA Local Solution to Plastic Pollution
dc.typeCapstone
thesis.degree.departmentHonors College
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineering
thesis.degree.grantorTexas State University

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
QUINTO-HONORSTHESIS-2023.pdf
Size:
2.17 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.56 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: