MIAMI BEACH, FLA.-University of Arizona students won the 1994-95 plastics recycling competition of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The engineering students were Larson Lindholm, David Grattan and Fred Bakun.
The institute challenges students to create a process for recycling plastics into marketable products, while accommodating recovery rates and market conditions.
The UA process separates high density polyethylene, PET and PVC from other waste, and diverts the remaining waste into a chemical dissolution process using a fluidized bed to make basic petrochemical feedstocks.