Empirical experience is indispensable for the engineer. In a bid to solve the world’s problems, a considerable slice of formative engineering education occurs in the workshop, affording students the opportunity to leverage conceptual knowledge and materialise what was hitherto purely theoretical. However, a requisite for such materialisation is the presence of physical material, and the unfortunate and inevitable consequence of said presence is waste.
Generally, workshop waste is almost dismissively disposed of, not from lack of awareness but for want of alternatives. The bulk of this refuse can be chalked up to perfectly usable wood and excess plastic from 3D printing, both of which possess substantial potential for reuse. According to Dr. Chandramohan George, research fellow at Imperial College London, reprocessing wood alongside plastic creates a flexible and sturdy composite, superior in mechanical properties with few requirements and fewer safety concerns.
The processes are not intricate, their execution far from laborious. Pulping via alkali extracts cellulose nanofibres (as well as expelling any external contaminants such as varnish) from wood, facilitating its integration with melted plastic, while delignification and hydration soften it to render it more ductile. Additionally, plastics might be utilised to laminate wood via oxidation, creating a protective layer with minimal resource usage. Of course, the individual compositions of different kinds of wood and plastic are of concern, and in some cases repurposing as opposed to recycling is the only recourse available. 1 kg of NaOH is merely a matter of £10, and the machine is unlikely to occupy much more space than the average broom closet. Notably, much of these extractions take place at low temperatures, their energy inflow minimal. Thus, at least in its fledgling stages, this idea is more than viable.
Measures to further the efficacy of this process are not altogether impossible to achieve. Per Ingrid Logan from ICL’s ACE workshop, people do adhere to bin etiquette, and a sufficiently well labelled and located container would take advantage of this. Feeding waste into the machine must be supervised, and machine maintenance does present added responsibilities, but none too severe in light of the procedure’s intrinsic merit. With access to the RCS chemistry labs, we can afford to put our ideas to the test and implement small scale prototyping ventures; spreading the concept across Imperial itself will undoubtedly propagate through the city’s wide network of colleges. As more institutions begin to adopt this system, it will burgeon and its cost will dampen. If something as ubiquitous as sawdust may be recycled so effectively, there is little doubt that this circular ecosystem can be implemented across a variety of regions, fields and materials.
In view of SDGs 9 and 12, our project engenders reflection on the repercussions of waste and its connection to responsible production. We are of the opinion that the best way the engineering sector may be made globally responsible is to create powerful, tangible and scalable solutions at the grassroots level, fostering a gradual yet deliberate change in the sustainability of the engineering enterprise.
Hi
With regards to further mentoring, I would be more than happy to continue.
Kind regards
Leyland
Hi
I'm not sure how you've concluded "easily be reintegrated with those from newer batches", this is an area where further work would be needed to see if this was true. Investigating this may highlight that additional processing would be needed to recover this waste or prove your statement correct.
Hi
What has worked well for me is that you have identified a problem that if implemented could implant the seed or concept of considering the full life cycle of a project, very early in an engineer's life.
What would make this even better if, if there was some consideration of the waste from when the composite materials are used, how can these be reused, or recycled. Introducing a new solution, needs to have the full life cycle considered, otherwise you have only changed one problem for another. Remember, "the solutions of today are the problems of tomorrow", if we don't consider these in a structured an holistic way.
Personal actions:
I hope to develop a framework for myself and my fellow workshop users to optimize their virgin material use for final prototypes, as the reduction of material usage reduces the amount of waste generated, reducing the need for adequate disposal or recycling measures.
A large problem with sustainability in the consumer goods market is cost. Even if sustainable goods are cheaper than their non-sustainable counterparts, they are still perceived as expensive, which reduces their demand. Hence, somehow changing the perception of cost related to sustainable goods is something which I would like to work on to increase the demand for sustainable products. I would like to do this by consulting psychologists and marketing experts to understand how to make something be perceived as cheap.
Plastic is a versatile material, and given that most of our everyday objects are made of plastic, it would be difficult to let go of plastic completely within a next few decades. Hence, finding ways to improve the end of life of plastics products, especially through upcycling domestically, would be an action goal I would like to work towards to create miniature circular economies that would collectively improve a society's waste management problems.
1- I will put my personal biases aside and try to understand the needs of the users when designing a solution for them.
2- I will consider all of the unintended consequences of my decisions and ensure the solution is truly the right thing for people and our planet.
3- I will consider the impact my designs have on the environment and learn how to minimise the production of waste in the process.
I believe that I should personally take more responsibility for recycling waste, a sensibility that I have been attempting to inculcate in myself for a while now. I also think that the gamut of parameters that allow a product to be recycled should ideally be far wider, and hope to develop a means to fix this.
Precipitating a paradigm shift in the way we teach engineering is certainly something I'd like to work on, not just to improve the level of engagement with the subject matter but also to groom future engineers to be responsible citizens. Of course, this would begin at a smaller scale by understanding, critiquing and bettering existing processes through the lens of sustainability.
I believe that the medical aspect of engineering is one that is given short shrift in developing regions, and I aim to create simple and scalable solutions for problems such as Neglected Tropical Diseases through more efficient engineering of materials and distribution of aid.
Three SMART Personal Actions:
1. I will do my best to inspire those around me to build awareness and take part in conversations about responsible engineering and will provide impetus to those in my vicinity to take actionable steps to achieve the SDGs. Within the bounds of my university, that would mean taking initiative to bring about small but impactful changes that promote inclusivity, sustainability and responsibility.
2. I will work towards identifying biases in society and day-to-day engineering practices that manifest as social, cultural and economic inequalities in the society and work towards eliminating them by making conscious engineering decisions. Additionally, I will undertake all my personal and university projects with an attitude of empathy, consideration and tolerance.
3. I will indulge in learning with an open mind, gaining insights into a variety of different concepts and ideas both related and unrelated to engineering. This would help me build a holistic view of the world and aid in identifying and tackling deep rooted and complex problems, accelerate meaningful progress and drive change.