The Plastics Recycling and Compounding Laboratory

As materials go, thermoplastics are, in fact, very recyclable. However, recycling rates for some plastics remain relatively low for a variety of reasons. One of the more important reasons is that, historically, plastics recycling education has been very limited.

The Plastics Recycling and Compounding Laboratory at UMass Lowell is a new facility dedicated to education and research related to plastics recycling. Over the years, students and faculty of the Department of Plastics Engineering have developed a number of products that are made from waste plastic or rubber. In fact, more than 50 plastics engineering graduate students have done their thesis research in the area of plastics recycling.

This unique laboratory will ensure that both undergraduate and graduate plastics engineering students have all the facilities they need to work in this area. This lab has been supported by a number of companies and organizations including American Leistritz, The American Plastics Council, and Gerber Foods. Lab capabilities include

Granulation
Metal Separation
Washing
Leistritz 27 mm Twin Screw Compounder
Werner Pfliederer 30 mm Twin Screw Extruder
Seive Analysis
Test Specimen Molding
Flow and Mechanical Property Tetsing

 Link to American Leistritz website
Link to American Plastics Council website
Link to Gerber Foods website