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We may have a new way to tackle the growing problem of single-use plastics, which pose a colossal environmental threat, leaving 10 million tons of plastic waste in the oceans each year. According to a recent study published in the journal Science Advances, the new method involves selectively recycling polyolefins, converting them into liquid fuels such as diesel, jet, and gasoline hydrocarbons.
Combined with other recent advances in waste management and plastic conversion processes, this could be the beginning of a major shift in how we view plastic waste.
Converting plastics is 'an indispensable part of modern life
Specifically, the yield of these converted hydrocarbons could reach 85% over Pt / WO3 / ZrO2 and HY in hydrogen at low temperatures of 225°C. This new process employs tandem catalysis, resulting in initial polymer activation over Pt and further cracking over the acid sites of WO2 / ZrO2 and HY zeolite, plus isomerization over the WO3 / ZrO2 sites and intermediate hydrogenation of olefins over Pt. The science is complex, but the facts are impressive.
This amazing process can be adapted to convert various forms of plastic waste, including high and low-density polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, and conventional polyethylene bottles and bags. According to the study, it can even convert composite plastics into desirable fuels and light lubricants.
If scalable to global levels, this could serve as an indispensable means of waste management, with vast potential implications for global climate change prospects. "Plastics are an essential aspect of modern life," the researchers said. "Global plastic output surpassed 314 million tons in 2014, and it is expected to exceed 1.2 billion tons by 2050."
"This growth is alarming considering the current management of plastic waste" in the United States, where more than 75% of plastics end up in landfills, with nearly 16% incinerated. Less than 9% recycled, explain the study's authors, who are Sibao Liu of the University of Delaware (UD) Center for Energy Innovation Catalysis, Pavel A Kots of the UD Plastics Innovation Center, Andrew Danielson of the UD Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Dionisios G. Vlachos of the Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, China.
Waste management is undergoing a major revolution
"Unrecycled plastics cause significant economic losses, pollution, and environmental damage," the scientists said. Mechanical processing, for example, requires a considerable amount of "virgin" material and "leads to lower-value products." We may presume that "virgin" denotes non-recycled material, which negates the environmental attractiveness of plastic fuel converters. The most robust and versatile means of combating plastic waste is chemical conversion, making this advance in waste management very promising.
Developments in the area of recycling and waste management are booming. Just yesterday, researchers at Washington State University (WSU) unveiled a new technology capable of converting plastic waste into jet fuel in one hour. The cost-effectiveness of recycling plastic waste is crucial because it can help find ecologically benign ways to power airplanes responsible for a colossal proportion of climate-altering carbon emissions.
The WSU study saw 90% of the plastic converted into jet fuel, plus other useful hydrocarbon products at moderate temperatures in 60 minutes. This and the previous study are significant because 10 million tons of plastic waste are dumped into the sea each year, some of which accumulates in the great Pacific garbage patch, a horrible feature of a human-dominated world. But if we can recycle plastics at the source (the dumpster), maybe we can do better.
