La Consolacion College of Daet, Inc.

Froilan Pimentel Avenue Daet, Camarines Norte 4600

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Water covers about 70 percent of the earth surface providing every living organism means

that water is the basic needs of all living organism. Human rely on clean water for different

purposes to stay alive. However, different environmental problems arise from year to year. Water

waste is a major problem around the globe and can be classified as water pollution. Plastic is the

major contributor in the wastes on water. Tons of garbage are produced by humans that end up in

ocean by accident or illegal dumping. Trash that goes on the water affects the life over and under

the sea. Though plastic issue arises from time to time, from the very fact that it has benefits, it

never goes away. Increasing number of plastics nowadays is very alarming, creating a wreaking

havoc and negatively affecting the environment. Waste polluting not just the land area but also

the bodies of water destructing the ecosystem and killing lifeforms. Even conservative studies

estimate over 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean annually.
 An audit in the Philippines has shown the country uses a "shocking" amount of single-use

plastic, including nearly 60 billion sachets a year, a new report said Friday, March 8, 2019. The

report, produced by the NGO GAIA, is part of an effort to collect data on plastic consumption as

environmentalists push for government action to reduce plastic waste.

Though it is impossible to completely eliminate plastics, there is always a way to reduce

it. Through the help of science and technology, there is a possibility to reduce plastic. There are

recycling solutions that already exist.

The situation is already dire, but there are remedies available to not only solve, but also

entirely reverse the devastation waste propagates on the world. Right now, there are viable

alternatives to entirely replace plastics while there are other recycling solutions to reduce the

plastic which already exists. The science and technology are already prepared to eliminate

plastic, although, it will require extensive consideration and meticulous planning to change the

way plastic is used and disposed of.

Statement of the Problem

Absence of discipline of people in proper waste disposal in a particular community leads

to dumping garbage into nearby bodies of water has posed a negative impact on biodiversity and

environment. This study aims to investigate the possibility to create a water plastic waste

collector. This study will be conducted to help increasing number of plastics found in the rivers

of Daet, Camarines Norte specifically Daet River which help reduce the pollution in water areas

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions.

water areas in terms of:

a. Number of plastic waste collected measured in grams in one hour?

2. How does it help the water quality in Daet River?

3. Is there any significant difference between the effectiveness in reducing plastic waste of

water plastic waste collector and traditional way of collecting plastic waste?

Objectives

1. To perform fast and reliable water plastic waste collector in reducing plastic waste in

water areas.

2. To

3. To determine if there is a significant difference between effectiveness in reducing plastic

waste of water plastic waste collector and traditional way of collecting plastic waste

Null Hypothesis

H0: The water plastic waste collector is not capable of reducing waste in Daet River.
Alternative Hypothesis

H1: The water plastic waste collector is capable of reducing waste in Daet River.

Significance of the Study

The researchers will conduct this study to help the reduction of waste in any water

areas. With the help of the water waste collector, people will not have any difficulties in cleaning

the water areas in an innovative way. It will provide a clean and better environment to live in by

aquatic animals and human life. The following will benefit from the study.

Residents. Residents near the water areas will no longer be affected whenever a bad weather will

come. There will be no waste that will block the canals that causes flood and diseases.

Aquatic Animals. Waste thrown by the people may possibly being intake by the wildlife in

water that can lead them to be poisoned. Collecting and cleaning the water areas would give a

better place for the aquatic animals to sustain their lives.

Water Cleaners. Cleaning in a water area full of waste can create diseases. They will no longer

risk their safety in cleaning the water areas and can prevent having diseases.
Government. Distributing the water plastic waste collector in every place in the country would

reduce the waste that causes flood, diseases and calamity. It will lessen the country’s problem.

To the Environment: Mother earth as the provider of clean water that we need every day, also

needs help to maintain the cleanliness of the environment. Preserving the environment where we

are living is very important. The water plastic waste collector will help to get rid of water waste

Future Researchers. This project serves as reference for future researches that they can

improve to add more features of it.

Conceptual Framework

The study is used to create a water plastic waste collector that will help maintain the

cleanliness of Daet River without risking an individual’s health.

The study is used to create a prototype of a wireless controlled garbage collector that will cleans

water areas without risking an individual’s health. The proponents can control the prototype

using radio module and GSM module for notifying the user if the bin is full.
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1. Agile Process Conceptual Framework

As for the proponents to accomplish the final output which is the Arduino Based Garbage

Collector, the inputs given above helped the proponents to meet the requirements in creating the

system of the whole prototype. Also, these were used by the proponents to utilize and construct

the hardware needs and functions of the whole project.

In the process stage, the proponents used the agile methodology which uses iterations and sprint

to manage tasks. The parts of the process are brainstorming, design, development,

troubleshooting and finalizing. After finishing all these parts, the proponents iterated and moved

to the next task. When all 5 tasks were finished, the prototype was deployed.

In the output stage, the final prototype which is the Arduino Based Garbage Collector with

Wireless Controller and Monitoring System is fully functional and is used according to its given

specifications.

Scope and Limitations

The study will be conducted in water areas in Daet River where plastic waste is

abundant. The researchers will make a prototype of the Water Plastic Waste Collector and has

different features that will be implemented in water areas. One of the features of the Water

Plastic Waste Collector is that it has a wireless controller for the user to control and reach the
plastic waste direction. This research study aims to know how fast and reliable does the water

plastic waste collector in collecting the plastic waste. It will be tested by the researchers in Daet

River, collecting plastic waste in one hour and measuring the collected waste in grams.

Since the device is just a prototype, it can only collect limited or small amount and

small-sized of plastic waste. The device is not applicable in fast flowing water areas and during

bad weather.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally for clear understanding

of this study.

Water Areas - it is a stretch or area of water, such as a river, sea, or lake.

Water Waste - it is a material that floats on the water areas and would be collected by the

prototype.

Prototype – is the term that describes the proponent’s product for collecting water wastes.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

In this chapter, the researchers gathered useful information based on existing literature

that will be applied to the research. The importance of reading related literature and studies is to

be able to have an idea about what have been done in this research.

Related Literature

One of the major problem in the globe is water pollution which is according to

the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, water pollution is any contamination of

water with chemicals or other foreign substances, such as fertilizers and pesticides from

agricultural runoff, sewage and food processing waste, lead, mercury and other heavy metals,

chemical wastes from industrial discharges, and chemical contamination from hazardous waste

sites, that are detrimental to human, plant or animal health. Polluted or unsafe water is the

leading cause of sickness and death with half of the world's hospital beds filled with people

suffering from water-related illnesses. Tons of garbage are produced by humans which affects

the marine life due to accidental and illegal dumping in bodies of water (Kornei 2017).

The current age of our society is called Plastic Age where plastic products are

everywhere to be found (Feilberg 2018). Removing plastics in water is only a short-term

solution, the sources of this problem are the ones should be traced to stop the problem. The main

plastic wastes contributor in bodies of water are the plastic manufacturers, chemical industries

and business companies. As stated by Gray (2018), the researchers found out that river systems

carry 90% of their trash in the area and carries it to the ocean. The Yangtze River of china is the
carrier of plastic pollution to the ocean. China began its prevention to this by ordering 46 cities to

lessen waste to reach a 35% recycling rate by 2020.

According to Marrone (2016), Philippines has a major problem in water pollution. The

increase in population, modernization such as urbanization and industrialization had affected the

quality of water. Thus, out of 421 rivers in the Philippines, 50 are considered dead and unable to

sustain marine life due to water pollution.

In San Fernando Pampanga they use garbage trucks to collect garbage such as scraps,

kitchen wastes and sorted debris everyday from house to house. They increased the rate of

recycled plastics from 75 percent that has a major impact because the trashes that can be carried

to the river are being used for essential purposes and recycled instead of disposing it improperly.

It also prevented the spread of vector diseases and decrease the cases of malaria and dengue and

lessen the standing water where mosquitos lay eggs (Mcdemortt 2017).

Related Studies

There are many polluted water areas in the Philippines. Proper waste management is not

enforced properly in the Philippines which causes the trash going on the water areas. One of the

most polluted area in the Philippines is the Manila. The water surrounding the Manila is plastic

polluted and will not be able to sustain marine life. Pasig River is one of the rivers that has been

destroyed by the residents living in the area. The Pasig River was considered biologically dead.

The wastes scattered on the area makes the water inevitable to sustain life. Japan’s Shokubutsu

Hana takes a team to step up in cleaning the river. According to Beer (2014), a campaign to
rehabilitate the river is being conducted by using a billboard to clean the wastes. The floating

billboard is made of grass that can absorb toxic materials and help reduce pollution. It is capable

of cleaning about 8,000 gallons of water a day.

Over the last decades Philippines have many positive impacts. This includes excellent

economic performance and quick industrial expansion, but this has a negative effect that quickly

resulted in poor hydrological and ecological changes in the city’s river systems and it has created

an environmental problem. These consequences would not be a part of systematic assessment of

the benefits of city waters so Jalilov investigates the relationship between poor quality of water

and the people’s willingness to pay for a better water quality in Metro Manila. Through

implementing this method, the study aims to see the benefits of the provision of clean water

quality to the residents of Metro Manila area that is swimmable and fishable (Jaliloy 2017).ss

Synthesis of the Art

Based on the studies read, this research is closed to the Seabin and Trash Wheel

inventions. The former is a water trash bin that uses a water pump to control the flow of water

which traps the trash inside it and the latter which is a stationary trash-skimming device which is

powered by a solar array or using the rivers current to control the conveyor belt that pulls up the

trash. The proponents’ prototype would have capabilities of these devices, but were tweaked in a

new and innovative way. This project would be wirelessly controlled which is more reliable in

getting wastes on different parts of water areas.

Other study that collects floating wastes on water areas is Waste Shark. The water wastes present

on the front of the Waste Shark are collected through its open mouth designed. It has a feature
that can separate oil from water and being controlled remotely and monitored via GPS. In

addition, this can also monitor and detect if the water contains chemical makeup and pH balance.

The proponents’ prototype can collect floating wastes through conveyor belt by controlling

manually and can also be monitored via GSM module.

The floating billboard using a type of grass that helps in absorbing toxic materials in water areas.

It has a capability to clean 2000 and 8000 gallons of water every day. This project can also be a

solution in reducing wastes on water areas by discouraging people from throwing their wastes on

the water due to the floating billboard environment friendly messages.

Recently, the studies and development of naturally occurring biodegradable polymeric

materials has been widely focused due to the increasing awareness on environmental issues. The

conventional synthetic polymer which obtained from petrochemical-derived monomers is non-

biodegradable resulted to the environmental issues. In combatting the issues arise; polylactic acid

(PLA), a linear aliphatic biodegradable polyester is introduced, in which it can fully produce

from renewable resources such as corn and sugarcane (Blackburn et al., 2005; Yang et al., 2008).

PLA which is biodegradable promises to reduce the CO2 level in the Earth’s (Oever et al., 2010;

Blackburn et al., 2005). In addition, PLA is a bio-based polymer equipped with unique properties

that are competitive with other polymeric materials such as polyolefin.

RESEARCH DESIGN METHODS AND MATERIALS

Research Design

Preparing the Materials

Preparing the Samples