The development and construction of the plastic shredder presented here
is part of the MAREA Plastic project, which aims to be a meeting point between the
university community and society, through science and technology. The project’s
main goal consists in developing a circular economy environment that reduces both,
the input of raw materials and the output of waste, closing the ecological and
economic flows of resources. Thereby, this machine becomes essential for the
continuation and proper development of such a research and social awareness
project.
The new version of the plastic shredder entails a solid design that meets the needs
and requirements of the task assigned in its working environment, focusing on its
design and manufacture from a sustainable point of view, reusing parts of the
prototype itself, as well as other disused resources, mostly provided by the
University of Malaga. This concept of sustainability even extends to its operation,
controlling the consumption of the engine and paying special attention to durability,
reliability and, above all, the safety of both, users and the shredder itself.
Among other design priorities, the possibility to visualise and perfectly understand
how and why the reused plastic passes through the shredder is one of the most
important due to the educational purpose of the project towards a younger audience
about circular economy. To achieve this, the machine should not only be able to
show the process in an illustrative way, but also the interaction with the machine
should be simple and fluid, without the need for previous knowledge or experience
operating industrial machinery.