A research team from the United Arab Emirates University conducted a project to recycle scrap plastic bottles into re-manufactured materials. This effort contributes to waste reduction, preserves a clean and sustainable environment, and promotes scientific and operational applications. In turn, it directly supports sustainable environmental engineering and the circular economy.
Ensuring Retention of Properties of Base Materials
The team studied the combined effects of recycling and welding processes to ensure the chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the base materials were retained. By optimizing the welding conditions, they achieved high-strength weld joints without significant degradation of the polymeric material. The findings suggest that friction stir welding can be used to develop sustainable, lightweight thermoplastic structures. This research helps reduce plastic waste and supports a circular economy.
Prof. Abdel-Hamid I. Mourad, case study supervisor from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, stated, “Our work focuses on the friction stir weldability of recycled scrap thermoplastics. As a case study, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sourced from scrap Laban bottles was used. This work has applications towards the development of sustainable lightweight thermoplastic structures using recycled scrap materials.”
He added, “This research work addresses the growing environmental concerns associated with plastic waste, while this study demonstrates that recycled scrap thermoplastics can be effectively welded and used towards structural applications, and it promotes plastic material recycling and reusage.”
He noted that this research is multi-disciplinary and requires expertise from different fields, such as mechanical engineering. It could further broaden material sciences to include additional fields like environmental engineering and waste management.
The research team consists of Dr. Syed Haris Iftikhar, Dr. Nizamudeen Alungal Cherupurakal (recent PhD graduates), and other bachelor and master students. They aim to extend this work to other thermoplastic materials, especially composites. Future directions include scaling this work for industrial applicatio