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K-Cup Disassembly Project

K-Cup Disassembly Project. Zack Burchman Travis Gang Dana Geer Ryan Neary Matt Seekins. Faculty Advisor: Mike Rosen GMCR Contacts: Paul Comey Wade Hodge Jason King. The Problem.

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K-Cup Disassembly Project

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  1. K-Cup Disassembly Project Zack Burchman Travis Gang Dana Geer Ryan Neary Matt Seekins Faculty Advisor: Mike Rosen GMCR Contacts: Paul Comey Wade Hodge Jason King

  2. The Problem • Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is unable to recycle waste K-Cups that result from in-process quality testing and misprocessing.

  3. Why is there a Problem? • Currently no process is utilized to separate the K-Cup components into recyclable waste streams • There are many discarded cups • ~5% of the cups don’t meet quality requirements • ~3% are used for quality control testing • About 80,000 cups discarded daily • Currently, all rejects are sent to a landfill • K-Cup production will continually grow due to user demand

  4. What is a K-Cup?

  5. Design Goals • Effectively dismantle K-Cups and sort the cup, grounds, filter, and foil seal into individual waste streams • Separated components must be in recyclable condition • Total environmental waste must be significantly less than discarding cups in landfill • The design will be scalable enabling it to handle an 80,000 cup load daily • The device should be capable of handling partially assembled and damaged K-Cups that result from misprocessing • Compatible with GMCR restraints for safety, noise reduction, cost, etc.

  6. Initial Brainstorming • Potential techniques for separation of materials • Heat • Shred into tiny pieces • Cut key welding points • Chemical agents to relieve bond • Brute force (simply pull apart) • Grinding down weld • Techniques for orienting cups • Physical geometry • Center of gravity • Vibrating techniques

  7. Heating the Cups • Benefits • Cup orientation might not matter • Pieces can just curl away from each other leading to easy separation • No waste • Pitfalls • Heat required might melt components • Because parts are welded, we can’t be sure it will work • Grounds can catch fire

  8. Shredding the Cups • Benefits • Very simple • Can throw all cups into a bin and just push a button • Pitfalls • After shredding, still need a process to efficiently separate various waste streams

  9. Cutting the Welds • Benefits • Easy process with die • All components can be detached in one swoop • No residue on parts • Pitfalls • Waste streams must still be separated after cutting • Welds must be discarded as waste

  10. Chemical Agents • Benefits • No remaining residue • No wear on machines • Pitfalls • Need thorough understanding of material properties • Emissions • Cost of chemicals

  11. Brute Force • Benefits • Separates waste streams during disassembly • Pitfalls • Slow • Room for error • Requires cups to be oriented and handled throughout process

  12. Grinding Weld • Benefits • Minimal waste • Simple process • Parts can be separated during disassembly • Pitfalls • Machine wear • Aluminum dust as a hazard? • May be slower than other processes

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