Abstract
Since the beginning of large-scale plastic production in the mid-1900’s, 8300 million metric tons of plastic have been produced, and only 9% recycled. Plastic pollution has significant adverse effects on the environment and human health, and plastic pollution rates continue to rise annually. My technical and STS projects each address the plastic pollution crisis and seek to develop solutions in their respective subject areas. In my technical research, I develop an industrial process for high-recovery, circular plastic recycling; in my STS research, I investigate the sociotechnical factors leading to one of the worst localized plastic pollution crises in the world.
My technical research paper details the design of an industrial-scale polyethylene terephthalate (PET) molecular recycling plant. My team and I conducted thorough literature review to identify industrial or lab-scale designs for each process step, used MATLAB to model reaction kinetics found in our literature review, and used Aspen Plus to simulate additional process steps. We designed all equipment required for the process, and estimated the capital and operating costs the facility would incur. We concluded that the process would effectively recycle post-consumer PET plastic into virgin-grade material at a 67% recovery rate, and that the facility would be profitable and economically promising.
My STS research paper investigates the sociotechnical factors leading to the plastic pollution crisis in Indonesia, as well as the sociotechnical factors involved in the mitigation of the issue. I use the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory to identify and analyze the role of three key stakeholders: the Indonesian public, the Indonesian government, and the multinational corporations that produce and sell single-use plastics in the region. I argue that multinational corporations are at fault for the existence and proliferation of the issue, as they intentionally developed and marketed single-use plastic technologies for this region; I further argue that the pollution crisis will not be solved without a significant decrease in plastic production that must be led by these corporations.
My technical research is limited by the availability and novelty of data for our process steps. Some of the lab-scale data used to develop our industrial process design results in impractical, costly, and hazardous unit operations. A more accurate, effective, and financially viable process design could be created if lab- and pilot-scale experiments were performed to optimize material inputs and reactor designs before finalizing the industrial-scale design. At its current stage of design, we cannot recommend construction without improvements in these areas, however, the process is promising for commercialization if these improvements could be made.
My STS research has a relatively narrow scope, and is limited in that it primarily addresses responsibility for a social and environmental crisis. I identify key factors in the inception of the plastic pollution crisis and assign blame to a specific stakeholder, however, further research is necessary to develop sophisticated and practical solutions to end the crisis and help the region recover. Future research should investigate the social and economic implications of decreasing or halting the production of single-use plastics to determine if this is a viable solution for the pollution crisis.
I would first like to thank my technical research team; Natasha D’Cunha, ThienMinh Duong, and Andrew Telesnicki Kranz; for their incredible work on our project and for their unwavering friendship over the past three years. I would like to thank Professors Eric Anderson and Caitlin Wylie for their guidance and support on my technical and STS research projects, respectively, as well as Professor Ronald Unnerstall for his consultation on my technical research project.
