Light plastic densifier

Abstract

In general, this disclosure relates to an apparatus that compresses lightweight plastic waste (e.g., used grocery bags, empty trash bags, food wrappers, etc.), and then applies a limited amount of heat to “bake” the compressed plastic into a “brick” of plastic. The plastic is compressed, and then heated enough to cause it to retain its compressed shape, without melting or substantial outgassing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for densifying plastic, the method comprising:
 loading plastic to be densified in a compression chamber;   compressing the plastic; and   applying heat to the plastic to achieve a temperature in a range of 100 C to 180 C, wherein the compression and the heat bake the plastic into a brick.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising: during loading operations, periodically compressing the plastic without applying heat. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein applying heat to the plastic is in response to a signal that the compression chamber is full. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic is loaded into the compression chamber using a loading mechanism, and wherein the loading mechanism is automatically activated in response to a signal indicating the presence of plastic in the loading mechanism. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein compressing the plastic, and applying heat to the plastic are repeated at least once. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein compressing the plastic and applying heat to the plastic are repeated in response to an indication that a predetermined compression ratio has not been achieved. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the compressing the plastic and applying heat to the plastic are repeated a predetermined number of times.