The Plastic Shredding design project was created to fulfill a need for the developing Smart Factory at Purdue University. The developers of the smart factory, most notably our client Paul McPherson, believe that integrating a recycling component into the factory would make it more sustainable by preventing plastic waste from going into a landfill, and would instead recycle that waste into something useful. It would also make it more engaging to students using the factory. The first step to the plastic recycling process is shredding the material down to a smaller and more consistent size so that the material can be more easily extruded and used for other parts. Thus, as part of the recycling portion of the smart factory, a plastic shredder must be built. There are two main purposes to the construction of this plastic shredding machine: one is to make the smart factory more sustainable, and the second is to act as a teaching tool for Purdue students to learn basics regarding shredding and mechanics from. This solution will impact Purdue students, specifically those who engage with the smart factory through a designated class, as they will be able to interact with the solution and use it as a learning tool to discover more about the plastic recycling and extrusion process. In addition to the actual machine, it is also imperative to know what types of plastic can be used in this system so that the students don’t spend time trying to process materials that would not work for the final product. For this reason, the project also includes a research portion to analyze which materials are appropriate.
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