A research team in Japan has found a new way to recycle plastic.
The breakthrough was made by Shizuoka University and plant development company Rinkai Kenkyusho. It involves "a recycling technology for the effective use of mixed post-consumer plastic waste," The Mainichi reported.
The variability of plastics creates issues in the recycling process, with polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate, for example, deteriorating the quality of recycled oil — the building block of plastics — and corroding equipment, per the outlet.
The researchers' process uses subcritical — or superheated and pressurized — water in addition to catalysts to produce naphtha and light oil "more efficiently than previous recycling technologies." Naphtha is a portion of petroleum that is used to make plastics, gasoline, and other products.
The recycled naphtha can then be used as a raw material in new plastics.
Reusing such materials can help clean the planet, as plastic production and consumption have soared since gaining traction in the 1940s. By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight, according to World Wildlife Fund.
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That's because over 90% of plastic is thrown away, burned, or leaked into the environment. Just 20 petrochemical companies produce over half of single-use plastics, according to the Center for Climate Integrity.
"Despite decades of industry promises, plastic recycling has failed to become a reality due to long-known technical and economic limitations," the Big Oil watchdog reported.
The research team hopes to recruit oil refineries and other companies to use the recycled oil and scale up the technology for practical use in three years' time, The Mainichi reported.
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Definitely 👍 "By recycling mixed post-consumer plastic waste, which could not be processed well until now, into high-quality oil, we can reduce the use of fossil fuels and ultimately have the advantage of reducing carbon dioxide emissions," Shizuoka University specially appointed professor Takeshi Sako told the newspaper. "This is one of the leading technologies in the world."
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