Abstract
Through the increased use of plastic products within organizations worldwide, efficient tools and techniques are required for the effective reuse and waste management of these plastic resources. Plastic recycling technologies include four stages of plastic recycling, these include primary recycling, secondary recycling, tertiary recycling and quaternary recycling. Each technique is suitable for a certain plastic type and produces different forms of end products. The most common recycling technique has been found to be secondary recycling. This is evident from a series of past work that focuses on secondary recycling. Fewer research borders on the rest of recycling techniques especially primary recycling and quaternary recycling. The implementation of the recycling techniques is found mostly in external recycling facilities. Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) rarely implement plastic recycling as part of their production process. The objective of this research is to conduct a life cycle analysis on the secondary recycling process in order to highlight the stages of highest negative environmental impact within the process as well as analyse the production planning techniques and the constraints or requirements in the system and recommend improvements. The recommendations made are to improve the production process by reducing waste, reducing lead time, improving production planning techniques, improve the factory layout and through the life cycle analysis to reduce the environmental impacts which could reduce costs, improve processes, and increase the value added in environmental protection through the reduction of the impacts. The suggested improvements are to be sustainable and not of a great cost to the organization...
M.Ing. (Quality and Operations Management)