We have so much plastic littering our planet we're literally drowning in it. But even if we can sift it out of our oceans, what do we do with all of it?
Well, these scientists had the stellar idea to turn it into a clean fuel source so we can effectively recycle all the waste.
Researchers at Purdue University have devised a new chemical technique that can repurpose polypropylene. This is the plastic used for everything from toys to chip packets. The process uses superheated water to convert the waste plastic into liquid fuel similar to petrol and diesel that could be used in modern day cars.
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"Our strategy is to create a driving force for recycling by converting polyolefin waste into a wide range of valuable products, including polymers, naphtha (a mixture of hydrocarbons), or clean fuels," Linda Wang, the research team's leader, said in a press release. "Our conversion technology has the potential to boost the profits of the recycling industry and shrink the world's plastic waste stock."
Of the approximately five billion tons of waste plastic clogging our planet, scientists estimate about 23 percent of it is made up of polypropylene. So if that can all be processed through this method, it not only provides motivation for entities to clean up our plastic waste but also provides a massive resource that can be used.
Vincent Walter/Purdue University
In their method, the researchers used supercritical water, which is when water behaves as both a liquid and gas under extremely high temperature and pressure. This is then added to the polypropylene, which converts it to oil within a few hours at most.
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"Plastic waste disposal, whether recycled or thrown away, does not mean the end of the story," Wang said. "These plastics degrade slowly and release toxic microplastics and chemicals into the land and the water. This is a catastrophe, because once these pollutants are in the oceans, they are impossible to retrieve completely."