Cagayan State University College of Engineering

INTRODUCTION Plastics have opened the way for new inventions and have replaced other materials in existing products. They are light, durable and versatile, as well as resistant to moisture, chemicals and decay. Yet these are the same properties that present environmental challenges. The accumulation of waste has been a constant problem in the Philippines due to increase in population, developmental activities, changes in life style, and socio-economic conditions. Plastics waste is a significant portion of the total municipal solid waste (MSW). It is estimated that approximately 10 thousand tons per day (TPD) of plastics waste is generated i.e. 9% of 1.20 lacs TPD of MSW in the country. The plastics waste constitutes two major category of plastics; (i) Thermoplastics and (ii) Thermoset plastics. Thermoplastics, constitutes 80% and thermoset constitutes approximately 20% of total post-consumer plastics waste generated in India. The Thermoplastics are recyclable plastics which include; Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Low Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE), Poly Vinyal Choloride(PVC), High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene(PP), Polystyrene (PS) etc. However, thermoset plastics contains alkyd, epoxy, ester, melamine formaldehyde, phenolic formaldehyde, silicon, urea formaldehyde, polyurethane, metalized and multilayer plastics etc. Many people find segregating of garbage from plastics with the non-plastics as a waste of their time, and we all know that most people dont like to hold garbage. This consists of many

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

different kinds of materials that are too annoying to see, bad smells coming from it, and extremely dangerous to the health of every individual. The environmental hazards due to mismanagement of plastics waste include the following aspects: Littered plastics spoils beauty of the city and choke drains and make important public places filthy; Garbage containing plastics, when burnt may cause air pollution by emitting polluting gases; Garbage mixed with plastics interferes in waste processing facilities and may also cause problems in landfill operations; Recycling industries operating in nonconforming areas are posing unhygienic problems to the environment. Segregation of plastics with the non-plastics means the separation of the plastic waste generated in the dumped garbage by the people. A segregation system can ensure that the waste will be treated according to the hazards of the waste and that the correct disposal routes are taken and that the correct transportation equipment will be used. Having a proper of segregation of garbage from plastics with the non-plastics, recycling can be carried out. People always wanted to make their life in an easiest way possible to live that is why proposing this project is highly recommended. In this highly developing society; time and man power are critical constrains for completion of task in large scales. The automation is playing important role to save not only human efforts in most of the regular and frequently carried works but also for our beautiful nature that was given to us.

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

OBJECTIVES 1. To be able to detect and isolate garbage, plastic in particular, by using the system. 2. To determine what type of plastic that can be detected and segregated by the system. 3. To know the maximum weight of the plastic that can be detected and segregated by the system. 4. To determine the maximum quantity of the plastic that can be detected by the system. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS Computer engineers researches have really great contributions in our technology of todays generation. Every research has importance in our society most especially in the industry and so as the community. However, there are also limitations of it. In this proposal, the proposed project can be susceptible to power failure, but this disruption can be avoided by attaching the voltage source, thus allowing the users to avail the great advantage of the system. The system functionality will be based on microcontroller that is needed to be programmed; also sensors and actuators so the technological constraints must be kept in mind always since sensors are sensitive. The project will be applicable to even small or large areas. However, the area of implementing it should be good and safe enough to the people. The material used in

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

implementing the project must be strong enough to hold a different kind of garbage and since garbage consists of toxic chemicals, the material which the robot will be made might get rusty. Its behavior is entirely governed by how the microcontroller is being programmed. It has a weight of garbage to consider. The bigger the system the higher the weight of garbage it can be loaded to it. It cannot entirely remove garbage in our community but it can help to lessen it. It can control the spreading of severe health sicknesses that causes by the toxics. It can lessen or control the flood because the plastics were being separated and disposed in a correct possible way. The plastic that can be segregated can be recycled. Thus it can minimize the pollution and conserve the energy The sensor is capable only in detecting or sensing PET (polyethylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), HDPE (high density polyethylene), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS).

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The researchers believe that the results of this study will be a great help not only to the environment but also to those who are directly and indirectly involved in separating garbage plastic. The researchers also believe that this study will help the mother earth in preventing for its total damage. To the People: This study will be the solution for the hardship of people in separating their garbage in a convenient way. To the Environment: This will help in keeping the environment clean and green. With this, it will prevent for the total damage of the earth and minimizing the pollution caused by the garbage. It will also provide an easy but better way of protecting the surrounding. To the Researcher: The study will give the researcher a clear perspective and clear concept on how to design a garbage separator. To the Future Researchers: This study will serve as their basis in their future researches and their innovative endeavours.
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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE Hand Picking Handpicking of refuse is perhaps the earliest and most prevalent handling process. In MSW composting plants handpicking encompasses activities such as the removal of large or unsuitable items from process streams (for example mattresses, large dead animals, stones), clearing materials handling blockages and also dedicated handpicking lines (Cross 1991, Ernst 1988, Manios and Syminis 1988, Sabater and Penuelas 1986). There are some who feel that handpicking is a somewhat unsavoury aspect of MSW processing, carrying problems of health and safety (Powell 1992) for example from discarded hypodermic needles - and low self-esteem. Others have the point of view that it is the a cost effective means of recovering resources from mixed MSW streams and is a source of unskilled or even sheltered employment. However, where it is used, hand picking is such an important part of the process that the use of poorly motivated labour can have a significant detrimental effect on the overall process.

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

RELATED RESEARCH There are studies that are related to our proposed project. The projects that were conducted were entitled Intelligent Garbage Classifier by Alvaro Salmador, Javier Perez Cid, and Ignacio Rodriguez Novelle, Recycling of Mixed Plastic Waste Is Separation Worthwhile? by Stefan Tall on the year 2000, Study of Scrap Waste in Kathmandu Valley by Kishor P. Luitel and Sanjay Nath Khanal on January 2010. IGC (Intelligent Garbage Classifier) is a system for visual classification and

separation of solid waste products. Currently, an important part of the separation effort is based on manual work, from household separation to industrial waste management. Taking advantage of the technologies currently available, a system has been built that can analyze images from a camera and control a robot arm and conveyor belt to automatically separate different kinds of waste. Recycling of Mixed Plastic Waste Is Separation Worthwhile? Material from a Swedish collection system for rigid (non-film) plastic packaging waste was studied. The nonfilm polyolefin fraction, which dominated the collected material, consisted of 55% polyethylene (PE) and 45% polypropylene (PP). Mechanical tests for injection-molded blends of varying composition showed that complete separation of PE and PP is favorable for yield strength, impact strength, and tensile energy to break and tensile modulus. Yield strength exhibited a minimum at 80% PE whereas fracture toughness was lowest for blends with 80% PP. The PE fraction, which was dominated by blow-molded high density polyethylene (HDPE) containers,
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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

could be made more suitable for injection-molding by commingling with the PP fraction. Nucleating agents present in the recycled material were found to influence the microstructure by causing PP to crystalize at a higher temperature than PE in PP-rich blends but not in PE-rich blends. Study of Scrap Waste in Kathmandu Valley, this studies provided status of scrap waste and defined the composition of scrap waste. Generally glass waste are reused, likewise paper and plastics are mostly recycled. There is increasing number of Nepali people involving in this business and should be acknowledge for their contribution to the waste management. Some of scrap waste are processed by the scrap waste dealer for their convenience to transport the material. More than fifty percent of waste are recycled or reused within Nepal. 41 percent of scrap waste is collected through door to door collection system which gives its significance and should be promoted.

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

METHODOLOGY Analysis Research study and clear understanding on the different types of plastics will be done for the project to undergo. Its colour and weight will be considered in researching the said project. All characteristics of plastic must be taken into consideration for it will affect the operation of the system that we are going to make in the future. A study on the selection of sensors that are available in the market will be conducted for it is the main idea of our project. Its functions and operations will be studied and discuss to select what is the best sensor that must be used. In the concept of our project, all necessary approach to complete the project must be done and reviewed like electronics and circuits. The materials or components that will be used must also be taken into consideration in making and completing the project. Its obtainability will be considered to make some remedy if it is not available in the market. Thereby, alternatives must be take place. Project costs must be economized whenever possible to have a more effective design of our project. There are studies that are related to our proposed project where we can base to achieve it. Attaining our project is possible since those studies conducted that we had researched can be a guide for us in implementing the project.

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

DESIGN Structure Design The design of the hardware is connected to the designed garbage can. It is placed on top of the designed garbage cans which separate the plastic and non-plastic garbages. The mechanical design of the doors and its movements are connected to the behavior of the motor used which enable the movement of the thrown garbage on opposite directions. Motors are also used in the open and close movement of the door structure at both ends of the project. Circuit Controller The circuit controller designed is capable of moving the motor on the structures without the human intervention. It is due to the programmable controller used and the type of sensory material used in detecting the difference between the plastic and non-plastic materials. It is programming controlled device. Motor Motor is a machine or device that converts any form of energy into mechanical energy, or impacts motion. DC geared motors are used where we need high torque. For only smooth motion, DC motors are used. Here we have used DC motor although servos are best suited for robotics. It is easy to operate and change direction of the rotation though an h-bridge driver connected on the circuitry. It also presents the cheaper value for the conveyor to be used.

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

Sensor Near-infrared spectroscopy is one of the most promising prospects for automated sorting of post-consumer plastics. This technique involves irradiating the unsorted, unidentified plastic: with near-infrared waves. When the infrared light reflects off the surface of the plastic, each resins characteristic infrared absorption band can be measured. These measurements can then be compared to known polymer values to determine the resin type. The use of infrared sensor used for sorting two or three plastic streams for recycling is replaced by the infrared laser diodes that could detect PET (polyethylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), HDPE (high density polyethylene), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). The speed also provides for increased volume of plastics sorted in smaller amounts of time. A second advantage is the lack of specimen preparation. Labels, or other obstructions like dirt, do not interfere with readings. Another advantage of this system is that color docs not interfere with proper resin identification. Except for black, the readings are independent of the color of the resin. A near-infrared beam is shown through each container at a rate of fifty times per second. In less than 19 milliseconds, the plastics characteristics are processed and resin characterization takes place. This sensor detects whether the resin is one of the following: PET, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, PP, PS, or polycarbonate (PC). When the container passes through a sensor at the edge of the appropriate sorting container, the sensor identify the plastic as one of the stated above then,
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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

the conveyor move the item on plastic container on the one end of the conveyor. If any material is unidentifiable, it is carried through a special container at the end. For this project HFE408032x-xb a kind of near-infrared spectroscopy is going to be used. The HFE4080-32X/XBA is a high-performance 850 nm VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser) intended for highspeed data communications. It combines many of the desirable features of an LED with the desirable features of a laser diode operating in a single longitudinal mode, but with multiple transverse modes reducing coherence and consequent modal noise in multimode fiber applications. The component produces a circularly symmetric, narrow divergence beam. The stability of operating characteristics with temperature potentially allows operation without continuous photodiode feedback control, simplifying drive circuits considerably. Microcontroller PICs are popular with both industrial developers and hobbyists alike due to their low cost, wide availability, large user base, extensive collection of application notes, availability of low cost or free development tools, and serial programming (and re-programming with flash memory) capability. The PIC have great advantages, it has small instructions set to learn, built oscillator with its selectable speeds. Can be programmed and debugged anytime through the use of the micro-programmer. It is considered cheaper and inexpensive microcontrollers. Thin Sheets and Others The thin sheets to be used are available on the market using an aluminum type of material. It is going to be the cover of the body structure of the designed project. Other
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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

components consisting of the circuit materials (resistors, diodes, transistors, capacitors, DC power supply, LED for power indicator and switches) that is going to be construct on the design layout of the project for the desired movements and responses of the motors and sensors used respectively. TESTING It is important to have a clear understanding on testing the project. Our proposed project will undergo into some series of test needed in order for our project to be successful. This is an important part in our research study in order to reduce the risk that might get or experienced by the user in using the proposed project. It is also done to reduce development and maintenance costs and to improve performance as well. The proposed project will be tested at Cagayan State University College of Engineering canteen to bserve its efficiency and effectiveness to segregate plastic waste. Rapid prototyping technique will be considered for the observation. Refer in Table 3.1 for the preliminary observation if the sensor can sense different plastics. In testing our project, the following will be considered: Item This must be considered in testing the proposed project since there are different types of plastics that were being dumped. Plastics can be plastic bags, rigid plastics (like bottle of water,

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

pails, basin, and etc.). Those plastics have different characteristics that might affect the sensor in detecting the plastic present in the designed garbage can. Color The color of the plastic must be taken into considerations in testing our project, since plastics have different colors like red, blue, and green, yellow, black and others. This will determine what the sensor only capable off in detecting plastic colors to consider it as plastic or non-plastic. Weight The weight of the loaded plastics must also take into account. This will determine the maximum weight it can handle in segregating the plastics with the non-plastics. Quantity Quantity test must be done to determine the maximum quantity of plastics that it can detect and segregate at a particular time.

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Cagayan State University College of Engineering

APPENDIX The project consists of hardware design, software design and the program flows.

Research and Study the Project

Project Planning

Hardware Implementation

Analysis and Testing

Block Diagram of the Methodology process

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The following table will be used for testing and observing our proposed project if ever implemented in the future. Table 3.1
Item Color Weight Quantity Detected? (Yes/No) Segregated? (Yes/No)

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