1. P17433 Plastic Bottle Upcycling in Haiti and Nicaragua
Problem Definition Review

2. Meet The Team Name Team Role Afifi Ishak Industrial Design
Industrial Designer
Mike Kist
Industrial Engineer
Project Manager
Evan Oslakovich
Mechanical Engineer Lead Engineer
David Swerzenski
Mechanical Engineer Team Facilitator

3. Project Background Sponsored by Autodesk Two Main Customers:
Erinold Frederick –Haiti
4 Walls Organization- El Sauce Nicaragua (Rochester Organization)
First time collaborative project between industrial design and engineering students.
Aimed at creating a more sustainable world

4. Problem Statement
Current State of Nicaragua and Haiti is polluted with plastic bottles
Plastic is an untapped resource that can be reused
Goal of the project is to reduce plastic waste and to “upcycle” bottles to bring value back to the populations
The project requires development of collection plan and the integration of a product that will benefit the collectors and environment

5. Sample Use Scenario

6. Customer Requirements
The Customer Requirements for the project are broad at the moment but can be broken down to the fact that upcycling will:
Reduce waste in the environment
Adds Value to the current system and benefits the communities
Utilizes local skills and resources
Durable through the extreme weather conditions
System can be transported

7. Engineering Requirements
While these are not finalized yet, our preliminary thoughts saw the need for:
$4.00 profit per bag collected
Bottles will not be burned
About 25,000 bottles a year will be transformed
Must be operable and maintained by semi skilled workers
Must rely on human power not electricity
Must withstand degree temps, strong winds, and heavy rainfall

8. Materials Benchmarking
Criteria
Melting Point (°F)
Young's Modulus (GPa)
Hygroscopic?
Impact Strength ft-lbs/in.
Density (lbs/in.3)
Typical Applications
Material
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
500 Y
0.7
0.0499
Beverage Bottles
High Denstiy Polyethylene (HDPE)
259
0.883 N
1.3
Storage Bins, Plastic crates, industrial tubing
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
230
0.3
No Break
Tubing, Plastic Bags, Bottles
Polyvinal Chloride (PVC)
320
0.4-22
1.4
Piping

9. Next Phase/Vision
Over the next few weeks the following will be accomplished to move the project forward:
Scope will be narrowed down/material research will be finalized
Team Idea Share of all possible products
Concept generation between ID and Engineering
Product benchmarking
Communication with customers to refine a direction to head in
Product selection!

10. Additional Information
Additional information can be found on our team’s EDGE website:
Questions?