In the ever-changing world of
high technology, it doesn't take long for a computer to become
obsolete. So what do you do when that speedy new Pentium gets
stuck in the slow lane after a few years?
Researchers at WVU are exploring answers to that and other questions as part of a federal project to develop uses for recycled plastic parts from millions of computers, televisions, and other electronic products discarded each year.
"The overall objective is to get the recycled plastics back into the feedstock stream," said Carl Irwin, director of market enhancement and program development at WVU's National Research Center for Coal and Energy (NRCCE) and coordinator of the project. "Feedstock stream" refers to material used in the mass production of goods.
The project will involve both public research institutions and private corporations.
WVU will work closely with MBA Polymers Inc., a California-based company that grinds, separates, and identifies plastics, Irwin said. MBA Polymers will supply WVU researchers with recycled materials.
Hota Gangarao, director of WVU's Constructed Facilities Center (CFC), and Rakesh Gupta, a GE Plastics professor in chemical engineering and a principal investigator with the CFC, will do research on high and medium-quality material provided by MBA Polymers.
The researchers will chop up recycled parts such as computer cases and mix the material with virgin plastics to produce new plastic parts, or polymers, Gangarao said.
"We will evaluate the new parts for mechanical and thermal properties and compare them with the virgin materials' properties," he said.
According to Gangarao, possible uses for the new material include retaining walls, underwater piles, sound barriers, and guardrails.
Chemical Engineering Professors John Zondlo and Dady Dadyburjor will work with low-grade recycled material that is too fine for MBA Polymers to separate, converting the material into a liquid and analyzing it for use as an alternative fuel.
"What we hope we're going to get is a liquid fuel like diesel or at least a crude oil substitute that could be refined into fuels," Zondlo said.
The researchers will also study the discarded material's chemical makeup to see if it can be recycled. "There may be some chemicals in there we could separate out and use to remake some of the original plastics," Zondlo said.
Other participants in the project are Polymer Alliance Zone Inc. (PAZ) of Ripley, W.Va., and D.N. American of Fairmont, W.Va.
PAZ promotes the manufacture of plastic products in West Virginia, especially in Jackson, Mason, and Wood counties. The nonprofit corporation will explore ways to attract plastics manufacturers to the region and train individuals to work in the plastics industry.
D.N. American is an information technology company that is developing a web-based system to match the sources of recycled plastics with manufacturers that use the material.
The research, made possible by a $1.5 million contract from the Department of Energy, could have a major impact, both economically and environmentally, Irwin said.
In 1997, 85 billion pounds of plastics were produced in the United States, and more than three billion pounds of plastics went into the production of electronics equipment.
"Most of that would eventually end up in landfills," Irwin said. "If this research pays off, instead of landfilling plastics, you could get them back into the production process."
—Jim Davis
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