The goal of an educational project developed through a partnership between the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers and Polytech Angers is to design and build a plastic shredder for processing and recycling plastics. Engineering students from Grande Ecole Engineering Programme students in preparatory classes have collaborated on a joint project to design a plastic shredder. Here’s a look back at this collective project at the heart of sustainable development!
"Having our first-year engineering students work with preparatory class students on a promising and structuring project related to sustainable development issues is very enriching for our students," explain Philippe Dal Santo and Laurent Guillaumat, professor and research professor at the Angers campus, and Laurent Saintis from Polytech.
A technical project requiring multiple skills
Initially proposed by students at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers who wanted to design a system for recycling plastic materials, this project, which required coordination between student teams from both institutions, has been a success. Project management was handled by engineering students at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers , while the machine was designed by students at Polytech.
After an initial phase studying the recyclability of different types of plastic, the students worked on identifying requirements, studying and drawing up specifications for the machine, designing and sizing it, and finally manufacturing the shredder, which they developed themselves using materials recovered by the students.
The SATER team also lent a hand and supported the project to optimize the design and manufacture of parts, as well as the manufacture of the shredder chassis.
After the crusher, it's time to develop an extrusion system
The shredder, which is now operational, is designed to finely grind plastic materials such as bottle caps or plastic waste from additive manufacturing, so that they can be packaged and recycled. How can we give them a second life?
To take things a step further, a first-year project in Grande Ecole Engineering Programme at optimizing a filament extrusion and winding system for producing 3D-printed parts is currently underway. “To do this, we need to accurately assess the particle size of the chips from the grinder that will then go into the extruder and validate the processes for testing the filaments,” explain the supervisors.
A wonderful recycling project that will give plastic materials from the Angers campus a second life!
This project was supported by the FSDIE with a grant of €2,000.
