System and process for converting waste plastic into a versatile building material and resulting product

Abstract

A system, process and resulting product which converts currently non-recycled plastics plastic bottles, jars, containers, PVC tubing, toys, furniture, synthetic plastic carpet and all other plastics that can be shredded, chipped, powered and or melted into a building material or useful utilitarian object. The process eliminates the need for sorting the plastic. The invention only melts the low temperature melting plastic. The low temperature melting plastic act as the glue or adhesive to bond all the high and low melting, shredded, chipped, flaked, powdered, or pelletized plastics together. The listed fragmented plastics must be mechanically mixed before it is subjected to the low temperature melt process. The conglomerate can be processed into a myriad of forms such as construction panels that can also have decorative veneer added. The conglomerate can also be melted, molded into a myriad of shapes that can also be machined to form intricate useful features.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A system and recycling process for converting waste plastic into a versatile composite material, said recycling process comprising the steps of:
 acquiring a sufficient amount of unsorted, unseparated waste plastic;   processing said waste plastic into an aggregate via mechanical shredding;   thoroughly mixing said plastic aggregate;   sanitizing said plastic aggregate to remove unwanted residue;   taking a sample of said plastic aggregate and partially melting and molding said aggregate at low temperature;   inspecting said sample to determine the ratio of solid plastic aggregate to melted plastic binding agent;   adjusting the ratio of high-melting-point plastics to low-melting-point plastics in the bulk plastic aggregate until it is approximately 1:1;   melting the bulk plastic aggregate at a low temperature until it is a suspension of solid high-melting-point plastic aggregate in a fluid low-melting-point plastic mixture;   forming the uncooled suspension into a desired shape;   allowing the shaped suspension to cool; and   removing the resulting composite material for further processing and storage or transport.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising the step of applying a decorative or protective coating to one or more sides of the resulting composite material. 
     
     
         3 . A versatile composite material suitable for use in the construction and fabrication of various structures and items, said composite material comprising a heterogenous suspension of plastic filler elements having a high-melting-point in a binding element of substrate plastics having a low melting point. 
     
     
         4 . The composite material of  claim 3  further comprising the plastic filler elements being similar in shape and dimension to each other. 
     
     
         5 . The composite material of  claim 3  further comprising the plastic filler elements being a random aggregate of rendered plastic of varying dimensions, rendered plastic comprising waste plastic processed by mechanical means into shreds, flakes, chips, threads, bits, powder, slivers, shavings, parings, flecks, scales or fragments. 
     
     
         6 . The composite material of  claim 3  further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in one or more specific common directions with respect to each other, the orientation of each filler element being determined by the orientation of its principal axis. 
     
     
         7 . The composite material of  claim 3  further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in unspecified random directions relative to each other and the overall shape of the composite material. 
     
     
         8 . A construction element comprising one or more layers of composite material, said composite material comprising a heterogenous suspension of plastic filler elements having a high-melting-point in a binding element of substrate plastics having a low melting point. 
     
     
         9 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being similar in shape and dimension to each other. 
     
     
         10 . The construction element of  claim 9 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in one or more specific common directions with respect to each other, the orientation of each filler element being determined by the orientation of its principal axis. 
     
     
         11 . The construction element of  claim 9 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in unspecified random directions relative to each other and the overall shape of the associated construction element. 
     
     
         12 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being a random aggregate of rendered plastic of varying dimensions, rendered plastic comprising waste plastic processed by mechanical means into shreds, flakes, chips, threads, bits, powder, slivers, shavings, parings, flecks, scales or fragments. 
     
     
         13 . The construction element of  claim 12 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in unspecified random directions relative to each other and the overall shape of the associated construction element. 
     
     
         14 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising the constituent layers being similar in composition to each other. 
     
     
         15 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising the constituent layers having differing compositions, said layers being arranged as follows: a decorative bottom layer, a lower layer of rendered plastic filler elements suspended in a binding element of substrate plastics, a lower layer of shaped strengthening plastic filler elements, a middle layer of rendered plastic filler elements suspended in a binding element of substrate plastics, an upper layer of shaped strengthening plastic filler elements, an upper layer of rendered plastic filler elements suspended in a binding element of substrate plastics, and a decorative top layer. 
     
     
         16 . The construction element of  claim 15 , in which said shaped strengthening plastic filler elements comprise processed waste plastic dimensioned as flat polygonal shapes such as circles, triangles, or quadrilaterals having dimensions larger than the dimensions of the rendered plastic filler elements of the second, middle, and sixth layers. 
     
     
         17 . The construction element of  claim 15 , in which said shaped strengthening plastic filler elements comprise processed waste plastic dimensioned as long thin strands or strips. 
     
     
         18 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising the constituent layers having differing compositions, said layers being arranged as follows: a bottom layer of shaped strengthening plastic filler elements, a middle layer of rendered plastic filler elements suspended in a binding element of substrate plastics, and a decorative top layer. 
     
     
         19 . The construction element of  claim 18 , in which said shaped strengthening plastic filler elements comprise processed waste plastic dimensioned as flat polygonal shapes such as circles, triangles, or quadrilaterals having dimensions larger than the dimensions of the rendered plastic filler elements of the second, middle, and sixth layers. 
     
     
         20 . The construction element of  claim 8 , in which said shaped strengthening plastic filler elements wherein the strengthening layers are comprised of thin, flat, recyclable material polygonal, shapes with hole perforations that enhance adhesive penetration and shape retention to improve the overall tensile strength. 
     
     
         21 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising being dimensioned as a flat panel. 
     
     
         22 . The construction element of  claim 8 , further comprising being dimensioned as a corrugated sheet. 
     
     
         23 . A structure comprised of construction elements, said construction elements comprising one or more layers of composite material, said composite material comprising a heterogenous suspension of plastic filler elements having a high-melting-point in a binding element of substrate plastics having a low melting point. 
     
     
         24 . The structure of  claim 23 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being similar in shape and dimension to each other. 
     
     
         25 . The structure of  claim 24 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in one or more specific common directions with respect to each other, the orientation of each filler element being determined by the orientation of its principal axis. 
     
     
         26 . The structure of  claim 24 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being oriented in unspecified random directions relative to each other and the overall shape of the associated construction element. 
     
     
         27 . The structure of  claim 25 , further comprising the plastic filler elements being a random aggregate of rendered plastic of varying dimensions, rendered plastic comprising waste plastic processed by mechanical means into shreds, flakes, chips, threads, bits, powder, slivers, shavings, parings, flecks, scales or fragments. 
     
     
         28 . The structure of  claim 23 , in which said structure comprises a circular shelter having a roof dimensioned as a cone, said construction elements comprising wall panels and overlapping, interlocking roof panels, as well as flooring panels and hollow bricks made of said composite material to be filled with a weighting material such as sand or gravel. 
     
     
         29 . The structure of  claim 23 , in which said structure comprises a shelter dimensioned as a rectangular prism having a sloped canvas roof and canvas walls, said construction elements comprising poles for framing and bracing and hollow bricks made of said composite material to be filled with a weighting material such as sand or gravel. 
     
     
         30 . The structure of  claim 23  wherein said structure is further comprised of strategically located layers of non-recyclable plastic-oriented strands or randomly oriented small polygonal shapes so as to significantly improve its tensile strength.