Recycling of Waste Medical Plastic Syringes in Manufacturing Low-Cost Structural Sections

Abstract

Particles of waste from plastic medical syringes (WPMS) are recycled with a polymeric adhesive from unsaturated polyester resin (UPS) to manufacture structural profiles at the lowest cost, and that could be used in various applications such as buildings, furniture manufacturing, toys, etc. The manual molding method was used in preparing the models for testing with the following volumetric fractions (0%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%), and with a granular size of (0.45mm) of WPMS). Some tests were performed on the prepared samples, including mechanical ones, tests included are (tensile test, bending test, and hardness test), in addition to the physical test, which is (thermal conductivity),The results of the mechanical tests showed an increase in the values of mechanical properties of (tensile strength, the flexural modulus, and hardness) as the volumetric ratios of (WPMS) particles increased. Whereas, the thermal conductivity values decreased as the volumetric ratios of (WPMS) particles increased. Given that this is the first time that this type of waste is used in manufacturing structural profiles at a low-cost in exchange for less harms to the environment. Keywords: Waste, Recycling, low-cost structures, plastic syringes, unsaturated polyester adhesive.