Plastic Recycling in Ghana
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The Symposium provides undergraduates from all academic disciplines with an opportunity to share their research with the university community and other guests through conference-style oral presentations. The Symposium represents part of a larger effort of Iowa State University to enhance, support, and celebrate undergraduate research activity.
Though coordinated by the University Honors Program, all undergraduate students are eligible and encouraged to participate in the Symposium. Undergraduates conducting research but not yet ready to present their work are encouraged to attend the Symposium to learn about the presentation process and students not currently involved in research are encouraged to attend the Symposium to learn about the broad range of undergraduate research activities that are taking place at ISU.
The first Symposium was held in April 2007. The 39 students who presented research and their mentors collectively represented all of ISU's Colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and the Graduate College. The event has grown to regularly include more than 100 students presenting on topics that span the broad range of disciplines studied at ISU.
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The presented research focuses on repurposing the large amounts of plastic bag waste present in Ghana. Much of this waste originates from water sachets, made from non-biodegradable plastic. The water sachets allow for potable water to be easily stored, accessed and transported. Ghana creates approximately 270 tons of plastic waste per day, with 85% of that plastic waste due solely to water. Less than 2% of this waste is currently being recycled. Water sachets have been the main supply of drinking water in Ghana for a decade, leading to an immense build-up of discarded plastic throughout the nation. Professor Chris Martin of the Iowa State University College of Design proposed recycling waste plastic from Ghana into chairs for schools in the area. This project was initially started by a senior design team in Materials Engineering and then continued by this research team in multidisciplinary senior design. The work over the semester focused on developing a simple and appropriate molding process for desk sized pieces in Ghana. Further work will focus on a heating implement and finalizing a desk design or similar application for the molding process.