Humanity has lived without plastic for around one hundred years and the substance forms part of everyday life, despite efforts made to reduce its use. Processes to reduce plastics are often offset by manufacturers seeking to utilize the low-cost, and quick-to-manufacture nature of the material. Too many consumers are reliant upon plastics, and this reliance will only be addressed by fundamental changes in infrastructures and lifestyle.
The environmental risks from plastics are well-documented and the planet struggles with more than seven billion tons of plastics, most of it being indestructible. Disposal presents a major concern and less than 10 percent of global plastic waste is recycled at all and less than 1 percent will be recycled more than once.
In addition, 24.4 trillion pieces (82,000–578,000 tons) of microplastics have been calculated to be present in the world’s oceans.
One of the major sources of plastic pollution is from plastic bags. A new initiative sets out to partly address the issue of disposal. Scientists report success using the process of catalytic pyrolysis (using a dewaxing catalyst) in order to turn plastic wastes into a valuable fuel source (a substance that is similar in properties to diesel).
For this, researchers from California State Polytechnic University focused on recycling plastic and upgrading plastic into other products or converting it to a vapor with heat, to create a fuel-like product.
At the heart of the pyrolytic process is the transformation of primary organic waste into a sustainable fuel or other valuable chemicals. The term pyrolysis refers to the thermochemical decomposition of carbon-based matter in the absence of oxygen. Such a process can be used on plastic bags.
According to researcher Mingheng Li, the catalyst is the most important factor in the process: “The catalyst is critical to this particular pyrolysis process, because it only requires one step to get to the desired fuel product at relatively mild temperatures.”
The catalyst was made by dipping a zeolite substrate in an aqueous solution containing nickel and tungsten and drying it in an oven at 500 degrees Celsius.
The research appears in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, with the research paper titled “Catalytic production of diesel-like oils from plastic wastes.”
In related news, a different team of scientists (from RMIT University) have developed a new plastic upcycling approach that offers a sustainable alternative for the production of carbon nanotubes (which are used for hydrogen storage, composite materials, electronics, fuel cells and biomedical technologies).
The process first converts agricultural or organic waste to biochar (a carbon-rich form of charcoal often used for improving soil health) and then uses the biochar is used to eliminate toxic contaminants like Poly-cyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as plastic is broken down into gas and oil. The process eliminates contaminants and convert plastics into high-quality liquid fuel.
