Plastic Waste Management: Analysis and Proposals for Improvement

This project focuses on the analysis of the environmental impact of a construction company in plastic waste management and proposes solutions for improvement. It discusses the problem identification, research methods, potential solutions, feasibility study, and alternative approaches. The project aims to promote sustainability and effective waste management in the construction industry.

(PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT)
By Name
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Introduction

Project Brief
The main aim of this particular project have been defined as analysis of the environmental
impact of a construction company in waste management field as well as developing proposals for
the improvement of system of plastic waste management. The study has therefore concentrated
only on the plastic waste in order to make the results of the study concrete and achievable as
much as possible. In order to ensure that water system within the constructed houses are
conveyed with a lot of ease, plastic materials have assisted in making of PVC plastic materials.
In order to ensure that the company’s target of Green Program is achieved including waste
reduction, reduction of waste is achieved through increase of recycling rates1.
Problem Identification
A construction Company X was started in the year 2009. The main activity of the company is
production of the Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Pipes used in building and construction sector. The
process of assembly is carried out from the delivered part component to the actual facility by
motor transport. The operating regime of the company is as follows:
 Total annual number of working days is equivalent to 250
 Three shifts as operating regime
 Shift operation as 8hrs
 Hours for working are equivalent to 40hrs/week.
1 Al-Salem, S.M., Evangelisti, S. and Lettieri, P., 2014. Life cycle assessment of alternative technologies
for municipal solid waste and plastic solid waste management in the Greater London area. Chemical
Engineering Journal, 244, pp.391-402.

This particular company is certified as per the International Standards (ISO 14001) as well as
9001.This has been through introduction of environmental management system as well as total
quality management.. However the company does not have its own facilities for waste disposal
or storage2. A stuff restaurant which has an external catering is found on the Company X’s
territory. The waste management of the restaurant is thus carried out by tye catering company.
Also in the company is a medical Centre. This medical Centre is operated by an external service
provider. This center too is responsible for its own waste. It is only company X which produces
wastes from the PVC and do not have proper ways of managing the same.
Research Methods
The data was collected from the preview of previous work of the research on related fields.
According to the literature sources, several methods have been used in management of waste as
far as construction industry is concerned.
Benchmarking from European
Management of waste is controlled strictly both on the level of European Union as well as their
member states. The concept of the plastic waste management in the EU is performed majorly on
the basis of EU regulations, directives, decisions and instructions which are meant to create a
binding legal framework. The main objective has been reduction of the volume of waste through
prevention of their formation in the production process, waste use in the production process and
finally separation of certain fraction of the stream of waste and uses it subsequently as
2 Jambeck, J.R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T.R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R. and Law, K.L.,
2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science, 347(6223), pp.768-771.

recoverable materials thereby minimizing disposed waste to the landfills. In broader
classification, waste management takes the form of several principles including:
 The self-sufficiency principle.
 Principle of utilizing hierarchical order as far as waste management is concerned.
 The principle of the implementation of BAT which involves waste disposal and recycling
of wastes.
 The principle of anticipation of environmental risk prevention.
Potential Solutions
As per the primary research conducted on similar companies of construction which uses PVC
pipes, the successful working methods have included avoidance of waste, waste reuse, waste
recycle, recovery and finally disposal. The statistics of the process as per the year distribution is
as indicated in the table below3.
The overall rates of recycling PVC pipes s plastic wastes have been 9%. The corresponding
recovery rate represents 20.1% of the entire plastic waste management in the flow category4.
3 Janajreh, I., Alshrah, M. and Zamzam, S., 2015. Mechanical recycling of PVC plastic waste streams from
cable industry: A case study. Sustainable Cities and Society, 18, pp.13-20.
4 Laurent, A., Bakas, I., Clavreul, J., Bernstad, A., Niero, M., Gentil, E., Hauschild, M.Z. and Christensen,
T.H., 2014. Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems–Part I: Lessons learned and
perspectives. Waste management, 34(3), pp.573-588.

Preferred Solution for sustainability
PVC pipes have been taken as organic polymeric materials which are used widely and should be
recycled as more efficient as possible. In fact they have been problematic during the process of
recycling. This is because a plastic, they are made of more than one type of polymer or usually
has some sort of fiber which has been added in order to give it much strength. PVC plastic
wastes arise during construction process (Water system Installation). The polymer molecule
shapes usually determines its characteristics. Generally there are at least two types of polymers
i.e. thermoplastic and thermosetting. The thermoset polymer types undergo chemical change
when they are subjected to the processes of heating. The recycling process has been chosen as a
preferred solution due to the following reasons:
 It will assist in the preservation of natural resources by ensuring decrease in the demand
for virgin materials. It has been estimated through various studies that recycling of just
1kg of plastic reduces emission of carbon dioxide gas by 2kg.
 It will assist in the saving of energy as well as leading to the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions
 Money will be saved through reduction of the disposal costs.
Feasibility study
Several Studies have been reported as well as published as far as alternative use of plastic
materials in the construction industry is concerned. From the published sources, the plastic
wastes which are formed from high grade resins are recycled from the used components as well
as spoilt ones. Accordingly, it is possible to divide reprocessing and plastic waste treatment

techniques as per the feasibility study. The four main categories include mechanical, recycling,
chemical and finally energy recovery. The common types of the plastics which are reprocessed
are as indicated in the table below.
Alternative Approach
Several factors are considered when plastic wastes are applied as partial aggregate replacement.
As per the present studies, scholars have summarized all these factors depending on the physical
characteristics of the concrete. Such properties include slump value, density, mechanical
properties, Young’s modulus, resistance among others5.
5 Miezah, K., Obiri-Danso, K., Kádár, Z., Fei-Baffoe, B. and Mensah, M.Y., 2015. Municipal solid waste
characterization and quantification as a measure towards effective waste management in Ghana. Waste
Management, 46, pp.15-27.

Comparison
When compared for cost effectiveness as well as environmental conservation, plastic waste
recycling process is better than utilization of plastic was as aggregate of concretes.
Critical Analysis and Evaluation for Testing
Brief and Specification
In any set up of project management, scope of the project affects time, client, costs among
others. This particular project is not an exception.
Time: The amount of required time in the deliverable production will be directly related to the
quantity of requirement which form part of the end results.
Cost: The higher the amount of requirement in the product management/project management, the
higher the cost.
Client: The client will be expected to pump lots of resources in terms of materials to be used in
the project management. His will go alongside being patience with the due process.
Materials: Different projects will require different materials depending on the nature of the
deliverables required. Plastic waste management will also vary depending on the option taken.
Use of plastic as part of concrete aggregate will be different in terms of material demand as
compared to recycling process.
People: People are considered to be the potential labor sources which make project delivery
processes to be as per the plan.

Stakeholders: They come in as the key decision makers as far as project management is
concerned hence may influence any parameter of dimension of the project management.
Task 2
Part a
Log Book
Resources Cost Personnel Timeline
Business registration $350 Legal officer and
Business owner
2 weeks
Application for
Businesses Tax
Identification Number
$240 Company legal
Officer and Business
owner
1 week
Accumulation of
funds
$20000 Shareholders 4months
License Acquisition $300 Shareholders 1week
Location
Identification
- Shareholders 1day
Shredders $6500 Company Engineers 5days
Granulators $5000 Company Engineers 5days
Breakers $3000 Company Engineers 5days

Prewashing system
Rinsing System
Dryers
Business Promotion
through website
operations.
Transport Plan
Part b
Techniques for recycling processes
Process Costs and cost planning
Collections Collection to be done at 14$ per kg
Sorting Personnel to be paid at $300 per hour for 10
workers
Shredding Cumulatively $500
Cleaning Cumulatively $ 300
Melting Cumulatively $500
Pellet making Cumulatively$ 500
Total cost for single operation cycle=$6000.
Part c

Gantt chart
March
2019
April
2019
May
2019
June
2019
July
2019
Augus
t
2019
September
2019
Location Identification and
Application for Businesses Tax
Licensee Acquisition
Transport plan

Prewashing System Acquisition
Acquisition of Shredders
Dryers acquisition
Business Promotion
TASK 3
Part a

Part b
In order for the above processes to be met effectively, recycling will still remain the better
option. Tis is because as per the PERT certain processes will have concurrent tasks and this will
help in the cost reduction in terms of resources and labour6.
Part C
Comparison
Initial Plan Current plan
The project was scheduled to From the pert analysis, it is
6 Rigamonti, L., Grosso, M., Møller, J., Sanchez, V.M., Magnani, S. and Christensen, T.H., 2014. Environmental
evaluation of plastic waste management scenarios. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 85, pp.42-53

kick off after 7 months possible for the plan to take at
least 6 months
The entire cost of the project
was estimated to be at $20000
Evaluation indicates possible
reduction by almost $3000
Conclusion and Recommendations
Through combined efforts from both the manufacturing as well as construction sectors, it may be
very possible to effectively avert dangers which are related to the plastic waste . This will assist
in the diversion of the plastic waste from landfills to uses which are considered beneficial. This
is very crucial for the existence of human, supporting and serving depleting layer of ozone
among other challenges.
Recommendations
There should be consideration of the emerging trends as far as plastic waste management is
concerned. A lot of research should be carried out so as to expand the options for recycling. This
will assist in the improvement of the economic benefits of recycling apart from sustainability and
viability of the plastic waste management particularly in the industries of construction. It will be
possible to effectively replicate all the involved techniques in the plastic waste recycling
processes in various parts of the country. Universities should therefore embrace research work
which is related to the management of et elastics in every quarter7.
7 Thakker, S. and Narayanamoorthi, R., 2015, March. Smart and wireless waste management. In 2015
International Conference on Innovations in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems
(ICIIECS) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

REFERENCES

Al-Salem, S.M., Evangelisti, S. and Lettieri, P., 2014. Life cycle assessment of alternative
technologies for municipal solid waste and plastic solid waste management in the Greater
London area. Chemical Engineering Journal, 244, pp.391-402.
Jambeck, J.R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T.R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R. and
Law, K.L., 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science, 347(6223), pp.768-771.
Janajreh, I., Alshrah, M. and Zamzam, S., 2015. Mechanical recycling of PVC plastic waste
streams from cable industry: A case study. Sustainable Cities and Society, 18, pp.13-20.
Laurent, A., Bakas, I., Clavreul, J., Bernstad, A., Niero, M., Gentil, E., Hauschild, M.Z. and
Christensen, T.H., 2014. Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems–Part I:
Lessons learned and perspectives. Waste management, 34(3), pp.573-588.
Miezah, K., Obiri-Danso, K., Kádár, Z., Fei-Baffoe, B. and Mensah, M.Y., 2015. Municipal
solid waste characterization and quantification as a measure towards effective waste
management in Ghana. Waste Management, 46, pp.15-27.
Rigamonti, L., Grosso, M., Møller, J., Sanchez, V.M., Magnani, S. and Christensen, T.H., 2014.
Environmental evaluation of plastic waste management scenarios. Resources, Conservation and
Recycling, 85, pp.42-53.
Singh, P. and Sharma, V.P., 2016. Integrated plastic waste management: environmental and
improved health approaches. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 35, pp.692-700.
Thakker, S. and Narayanamoorthi, R., 2015, March. Smart and wireless waste management.
In 2015 International Conference on Innovations in Information, Embedded and Communication
Systems (ICIIECS) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.