Abstract
Pollution is a rampant problem that is perpetuated with constant dumping of waste in landfills that includes large fractions of potentially recyclable waste. Senate Bill 1383 intends to reduce pollution by separating compostable waste from all other forms of waste. The concentration of organic waste in recycling waste containers may result in strict performance requirements. For example, acids produced from food waste have the potential for accelerated corrosion. While containers made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) rely on steel to reinforce the structure which adds weight. The implementation of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP’s) for food waste disposal containers would prevent any degradation from the food waste acids while also reducing the weight by not relying on steel to reinforce the structure. In this study, corrosion testing was conducted for eight weeks by exposing steel, HDPE and CFRP coupons to four concentrated surrogate solutions including phosphoric acid, acetic acid, citric acid, and bleach. Within the experimental error of the testing, there was a significant degradation after eight weeks with a change in thickness of 2.66 mm/year while the HDPE and CFRP coupons presented with -0.14 and ~0.00 mm/year change in thickness. A weight optimization analysis was also conducted by considering the waste container sides as panels and calculating their material indices to determine the most optimal material for waste containers. The corrosion and lightweight structural optimization analysis concluded that implementation of CFRP could result in weight savings of up to 33% while extending service life of the container.