{"id":45485,"key":"Distributed_recycling_of_post-consumer_plastic_waste_in_rural_areas","title":"Distributed recycling of post-consumer plastic waste in rural areas","latest":{"id":1247693,"timestamp":"2026-05-13T13:10:09Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"[[File:Recyclebot-process.png|thumb]]\n\n{{MOST}}\n\n{{Publication data\n| type = Paper\n| cite-as = M. Kreiger, G. C. Anzalone, M. L. Mulder, A. Glover and J. M Pearce (2013). Distributed Recycling of Post-Consumer Plastic Waste in Rural Areas. MRS Online Proceedings Library, 1492, [https://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8851128 mrsf12-1492-g04-06] doi:10.1557/opl.2013.258. [http://www.academia.edu/2921972/Distributed_Recycling_of_Post-Consumer_Plastic_Waste_in_Rural_Areas open access]\n}}\n\nAlthough the environmental benefits of [[recycling]] plastics are well established and most geographic locations within the U.S. offer some plastic recycling, recycling rates are often low. Low recycling rates are often observed in conventional centralized recycling plants due to the challenge of collection and transportation for high-volume low-weight polymers. The recycling rates decline further when low population density, rural and relatively isolated communities are investigated because of the distance to recycling centers makes recycling difficult and both economically and energetically inefficient. The recent development of a class of open source hardware tools (e.g. [[RecycleBots]]) able to convert post-consumer plastic waste to polymer filament for [[3-D printing]] offer a means to increase recycling rates by enabling distributed recycling. In addition, to reducing the amount of plastic disposed of in landfills, distributed recycling may also provide low-income families a means to supplement their income with domestic production of small plastic goods. This study investigates the environmental impacts of polymer recycling. A [[life-cycle analysis]] (LCA) for centralized plastic recycling is compared to the implementation of distributed recycling in rural areas. Environmental impact of both recycling scenarios is quantified in terms of energy use per unit mass of recycled plastic. A sensitivity analysis is used to determine the environmental impacts of both systems as a function of distance to recycling centers. The results of this LCA study indicate that distributed recycling of HDPE for rural regions is energetically favorable to either using virgin resin or conventional recycling processes. This study indicates that the technical progress in [[solar photovoltaic]] devices, open-source 3-D printing and polymer filament extrusion have made distributed polymer recycling and upcycling technically viable.\n\n{{MOST-RepRap}}\n\n== Key Findings ==\n\n<font color=\"#000000\">'''Table 1: Energy Demand and Reduction for Various Recycling Cases'''</font>\n\n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n| bgcolor=\"#d9d9d9\" | <font color=\"#000000\">'''Case'''</font>\n| bgcolor=\"#d9d9d9\" | <font color=\"#000000\">'''Energy Demand (MJ/kg HDPE)'''</font>\n| bgcolor=\"#d9d9d9\" | <font color=\"#000000\">'''Percent Reduction (Δ%) for Distributed''' '''Recycling <sup>c</sup>'''</font>\n|-\n| <font color=\"#000000\">Distributed Recycling:</font>\n<font color=\"#000000\">Insulated RecycleBot </font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">8.74</font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">--</font>\n|-\n| <font color=\"#000000\">Virgin Resin<sup>a</sup></font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">79.7</font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">89</font>\n|-\n| <font color=\"#000000\">Centralized Recycling<sup>b</sup> – Rural: Copper Harbor (monthly)</font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">28.4</font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">69</font>\n|-\n| <font color=\"#000000\">Centralized Recycling<sup>b</sup> – Rural: Copper Harbor (bi-weekly)</font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">48.9</font>\n| <font color=\"#000000\">82</font>\n|-\n| colspan=\"3\" | <font color=\"#000000\">'''Notes:''' a.</font><font color=\"#000000\"> </font><font color=\"#000000\">[26], </font><font color=\"#000000\">b. </font><font color=\"#000000\">Estimate based on [24], c. Percent reduction </font><font color=\"#000000\">= (Central-Distributed)/Central*100 </font>\n|}\n\n{{MOST-recycle}}\n\n{{Page data\n| license = CC-BY-SA-3.0\n| description = Rural recycling can transform waste into jobs. Appropedia explores how local plastic processing cuts pollution and supports small economies.\n}}"}