Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding (2023)

Nur-A-Tomal, M. S., Pahlevani, F., & Sahajwalla, V. (2022). Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding. Journal of Composites Science, 6(8), [230]. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs6080230

Nur-A-Tomal, Md Shahruk ; Pahlevani, Farshid ; Sahajwalla, Veena. / Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding. In: Journal of Composites Science. 2022 ; Vol. 6, No. 8.

@article{1170a3e4fe194524be66fd982d576899,

title = "Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding",

abstract = "Plastic has transformed the world; however, it generates a huge amount of waste plastics. It is well evident that, if urgent action is not undertaken on plastic pollution, it will pose threats to not only the environment, but also human life. Just simply discarding waste plastics will result in wasting a lot of valuable materials that could be recycled. Recently, the use of waste plastics has been considered for producing wood plastic composites (WPCs), which are superior to normal wood. Waste plastics are pelletized using an extruder and are then subjected to injection molding. In this study, investigations were carried out to determine the possibility of producing WPCs without the palletization of waste plastic to turn WPC production into a shorter, simple, and easy-to-achieve process. Here, a waste milk bottle, a familiar single-use plastic, was picked as a case study. Waste plastic granules and wood particles were mixed and directly injection molded to produce valuable WPCs. The water absorption of WPCs with 20% wood is 0.35%, and this increased to 0.37% when wood content was increased to 40%. The tensile strength at yield, elongation at break, and impact strength of WPCs with 20% wood content are 19.54 MPa, 5.21%, and 33.92 KJ/m2, respectively, whereas it was 17.23 MPa, 4.05%, and 26.61 KJ/m2 for the WPCs with 40% wood content. This process can be a potential solution for two problematic wastes at the same time.",

keywords = "circular economy, cleaner production, environmental-friendly, sustainability, waste plastic, waste to valuable products",

author = "Nur-A-Tomal, {Md Shahruk} and Farshid Pahlevani and Veena Sahajwalla",

note = "Funding Information: This research was cooperated under ARC Research Hub for Microrecycling of Battery and Consumer Wastes (IH190100009). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

day = "5",

doi = "10.3390/jcs6080230",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "Journal of Composites Science",

issn = "2504-477X",

publisher = "MDPI AG",

number = "8",

}

Nur-A-Tomal, MS, Pahlevani, F & Sahajwalla, V 2022, 'Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding', Journal of Composites Science, vol. 6, no. 8, 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs6080230

Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding. / Nur-A-Tomal, Md Shahruk; Pahlevani, Farshid; Sahajwalla, Veena.

In: Journal of Composites Science, Vol. 6, No. 8, 230, 05.08.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding

AU - Nur-A-Tomal, Md Shahruk

AU - Pahlevani, Farshid

AU - Sahajwalla, Veena

N1 - Funding Information:This research was cooperated under ARC Research Hub for Microrecycling of Battery and Consumer Wastes (IH190100009).Publisher Copyright:© 2022 by the authors.

PY - 2022/8/5

Y1 - 2022/8/5

N2 - Plastic has transformed the world; however, it generates a huge amount of waste plastics. It is well evident that, if urgent action is not undertaken on plastic pollution, it will pose threats to not only the environment, but also human life. Just simply discarding waste plastics will result in wasting a lot of valuable materials that could be recycled. Recently, the use of waste plastics has been considered for producing wood plastic composites (WPCs), which are superior to normal wood. Waste plastics are pelletized using an extruder and are then subjected to injection molding. In this study, investigations were carried out to determine the possibility of producing WPCs without the palletization of waste plastic to turn WPC production into a shorter, simple, and easy-to-achieve process. Here, a waste milk bottle, a familiar single-use plastic, was picked as a case study. Waste plastic granules and wood particles were mixed and directly injection molded to produce valuable WPCs. The water absorption of WPCs with 20% wood is 0.35%, and this increased to 0.37% when wood content was increased to 40%. The tensile strength at yield, elongation at break, and impact strength of WPCs with 20% wood content are 19.54 MPa, 5.21%, and 33.92 KJ/m2, respectively, whereas it was 17.23 MPa, 4.05%, and 26.61 KJ/m2 for the WPCs with 40% wood content. This process can be a potential solution for two problematic wastes at the same time.

AB - Plastic has transformed the world; however, it generates a huge amount of waste plastics. It is well evident that, if urgent action is not undertaken on plastic pollution, it will pose threats to not only the environment, but also human life. Just simply discarding waste plastics will result in wasting a lot of valuable materials that could be recycled. Recently, the use of waste plastics has been considered for producing wood plastic composites (WPCs), which are superior to normal wood. Waste plastics are pelletized using an extruder and are then subjected to injection molding. In this study, investigations were carried out to determine the possibility of producing WPCs without the palletization of waste plastic to turn WPC production into a shorter, simple, and easy-to-achieve process. Here, a waste milk bottle, a familiar single-use plastic, was picked as a case study. Waste plastic granules and wood particles were mixed and directly injection molded to produce valuable WPCs. The water absorption of WPCs with 20% wood is 0.35%, and this increased to 0.37% when wood content was increased to 40%. The tensile strength at yield, elongation at break, and impact strength of WPCs with 20% wood content are 19.54 MPa, 5.21%, and 33.92 KJ/m2, respectively, whereas it was 17.23 MPa, 4.05%, and 26.61 KJ/m2 for the WPCs with 40% wood content. This process can be a potential solution for two problematic wastes at the same time.

KW - circular economy

KW - cleaner production

KW - environmental-friendly

KW - sustainability

KW - waste plastic

KW - waste to valuable products

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U2 - 10.3390/jcs6080230

DO - 10.3390/jcs6080230

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85136824628

VL - 6

JO - Journal of Composites Science

JF - Journal of Composites Science

SN - 2504-477X

IS - 8

M1 - 230

ER -

Nur-A-Tomal MS, Pahlevani F, Sahajwalla V. Study on the direct transformation of milk bottle and wood into wood–plastic composite through injection molding. Journal of Composites Science. 2022 Aug 5;6(8). 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs6080230