Exploring the Effects of a Magnetic Plastic in the Identification and Recycling of Improperly Disposed of Plastic

The production of plastic has increased significantly in recent years, and not much research has been done regarding the disposal of these plastics. These plastics eventually degrade into microplastics and nanoplastics, which can pose risks to humans, other animals, and environmental health. Many approaches have been proposed, such as the One Health approach, a circular economy, and general global political involvement. However, these have not been very effective. A solution proposed to this is making the plastic magnetic so that it is more identifiable if it is discovered in the environment. This was done by combining three, four, and five grams of PET 1 plastic with one gram of nontoxic iron powder to see if having an AlNiCo magnet go through sand and water makes it more identifiable compared to traditional methods. Data was collected after five, ten, fifteen, and twenty seconds. A 2-way ANOVA test was conducted to test the statistical significance of the difference between the results of the six groups. It was found that there is a significant difference between the groups with a p-value < 0.05. Line graphs were also made of the means from each of the five, tenth, fifteenth, and twenty second intervals. It was found that the three-to-one ratio of plastic to iron powder in water was the group that was identified the fastest. This demonstrates that although these methods have not been used before, and for that reason may not be accurate, incorporating iron powder with plastic does make it more identifiable compared to traditional methods. It is important to note that in order for this to be used in the real world, it would need to be implemented globally. Additionally, it is worth highlighting that this solution is not being proposed as a comprehensive solution to microplastic and nanoplastic pollution.