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Washing Plastic (V4)
- This topic has 44 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 2 years ago by
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Washing plastic is essential in the recycling process and at the moment it is mostly done by hand – a very time-consuming process.
While working with plastic films I came in contact with water and plastic and the advantages but also dangers it has to offer. Shredding film has turned out to be a challenge because of overheating and dust. My only solution for this was to work with a water-cooling system. I got familiar with the dangers of microplastic in water, the dirt and chemicals, and filtration processes. I changed my focus and now I am working on everything which has to do with washing. Starting before shredding and ending with a clean and dry workable material.
Washing plastic is a very broad topic and it contains many different steps. Each of them is important and I will spend the next months on researching, experimenting and updating you guys – I hope, together with your help, we can create a way to make it possible, that small workshops are able to work efficiently and save for the environment.
Creating clean plastic demands different machines, which have to function in a workflow. Designing this process seems to me as important as designing the machines so I will also work a lot on how the different work steps could look like.
So what have I done so far:
After gathering all the information from @mathijsstroobers topic washing plastic and some research I have defined and started to work on the different steps – Cutting and prewashing, shredding with water, collecting the shreds in a mesh bag, modifying a washing machine, drying and most important filtering.
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Very good work Paul, certainly there must be two phases of washing, before going through the shredder and a subsequent, in the first what can be done is: – remove the biggest and potentially harmful dirt for the machines and the process – and another one of disinfection and hygienization of the plastic.
Then it would be very good to have a dryer, it can be a clothes dryer or an industrial cyclone, which can be used in both phases of washing. The important thing is to have an adequate filtering system in the second drying phase to ensure that we are not throwing microplastics into the sanitation network. I thought about it a lot and your idea is very similar to what I’m thinking! very good work!
I was thinking about this a lot and i found a reasonable way. You set your shredder to larger particles. You put them half full in washing machine that has a sieve installed that prevents any particles from passing trough. This would make it easier to rotate the shredded material and probably could wash about 5 milos in about 30 minutes. For filtering i would use a classic old school fitering, sand, charcoal and sponge. Diffrrent materials should have different filters. There should also be separate filters for oils and for glue. I think.
Hi all, we are a charity starting a project to do some local recycling and need to crack this washing nut too.
@pauldufour, do you have a Bill of Materials for any of those systems you tested so far?
Especially the sand-based filter – what kinds of fittings did you use to be compatible with both your water pump and washing machine?
That translucent hose going into your filter barrel looks like a much wider bore than typical water hoses found on the back of washing machines here. Is an adapter involved?
Have any of you recorded any observations on water quality coming out of your filters after pouring into a settling tank?
Ideally the filter would allow you to continually recycle water through the machine, only binning filter sand after a long period, but I guess that there would actually be a build-up of soap in the water from oils dissolved with lye, and that solution would need to be disposed of via sewage.
I’m also wondering how well sticker adhesives are able to escape through the woven bag on a hot wash, and whether they could block up the machine itself.
Keen to get started 😀
– Andy
@morayreachout Thanks for your feedback!
I am working at the moment on an updated file with all the information we have so far and I am gonna post it here as soon as it’s done.
About the sand based filter couplings, I use the big pipes for pressure reasons. About the connection to the washing machine, originally it was connected with an adapter, but the small pipe system inside the machine increased the pressure too much, so I removed lots of the “intestines” of the machine and we have a direct connection to the washing barrel now! But more to that soon!
In general, there are still many things to figure out. Especially about pre-treatment, as in label removing etc.
Also about the bill of material, we can give more detailed info later on, but it is not crazy expensive especially if you try to source things second hand etc.
@brunowindt Am I right in getting that you’re not sand-filtering water by gravity as it comes out of the machine then, but forcing dirty water from a waste sump/basin through the filter with a high pressure pump and into the machine for new loads?
@morayreachout exactly I designed basically a pool filter, as we need quite frequently cleaned water and the washing also needs high pressure. There might also be ways to use a gravity filter for slower washing cycles. But also I choose the pressurized filter, as I can clean it easier with backwashing.
@brunowindt thanks, so if you have had wastewater emptied directly into a sump, have you taken any kind of observations or measurements about how much or what plastic or other contaminants appear/float/settle in that tank before you try to pump and filter them out?
We’ve been looking at a second-hand inline filter that someone gave us from the dairy industry, with a 2-layer reusable steel mesh filter, apparently 154 and 80 microns in size, and I wonder whether to be concerned about anything smaller being generated by abrasion.
We have tried a couple of experiments now, washing with bags in a machine, with just the outlet pipe fitted directly to this steel mesh filter, and it seems to flow just fine at low pressure.
However, the second-hand filter has significant wear & tear on it (will post photos soon), and we are concerned what might be let through, so would like to try building something like one of those sand filters ourselves.
@pauldufour @brunowindt what did you use at the outlet of your sand filter to stop sand from being pushed out?
The diagram posted here shows some kind of filter bar at the bottom before the outlet, and I’m wondering whether there is a specific part you can find for this, or whether to try something as simple as a sock or a wire mesh sheet secured over a pipe with holes drilled in it.
Hey guys I’m buying parts this weekend to on replicate your plastic washing machine. Can you provide any further specific part details? Type and capacity of water pump? How you were able to add heat with out an external hot water heater? What the diameter of the hoses you added to compensate for the higher pressures are and where these fittings/hoses had to be used? How you were able to implement your auto relay when simply turning on the machine? And please any other important details that weren’t mentioned prior. Love everything you guys do and for this positive community. 🙏🏼
Yes! @brunowindt please do share the materials list and building process when you can! Thanks man!! 💚🌎♻️
A cheap idea for filtering waste water to remove microplastics- very fine mesh filter bags sold in sets of decreasing grades down to 25 micron: Herbal ice extraction bags
Even cheaper on ebay or banggood.
Might not be ideal for production processes, but could be useful for small scale stuff, or for counting microplastics of different sizes in wastewater?
I am working on a line to clean agricultural mulch films on a 3-5 tons per day basis.
I am in an arid climate with scarce water resources.
I am looking at using a dry cleaning process.
Here is one company that offers a line based on heat and friction.
http://www.mas-austria.com/en/Products/DRD-Dry-Cleaner
Here is another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPhGYG4-B-Y
I wonder about scaling this down for smaller plastic workshops.
Hi,
An idea (not tried it) – have you looked at food/garbage disposal units like this Red Goat one?
They are designed to shred bones and all food waste whilst at the same time they need a stream of liquid (usually water) running through them. Potential to clean and shred at the same time??
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