Industry consensus is growing that as much post-industrial and post-consumer plastics should be recycled as possible, as long as it's both cost-effective and environmentally efficient. Otherwise, energy recovery becomes the best solution. For example, NRPs may be contaminated, such as single-serve items used in a fast-food restaurant, or may be unrecyclable because multiple types are mixed and recycling would consume too much energy or water, said Keith Christman, managing director of plastic markets for the plastics division of the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
In contrast to mechanical recycling, where plastics are chopped up or melted and turned into another plastic product, chemical recycling turns polymers into chemical feedstock via depolymerization or into fuel via pyrolysis. Other processes, solid recovery fuel (SRF) or refuse derived fuel (RDF), take mixed paper and plastics and produce compressed pellets used in paper mills, cement kilns, and coal-fired plants, said Wooster. They are common in Europe.
In February 2012 JBI launched its second Plastic2Oil processor, the prototype of the company's commercial rollout. (Source: JBI)
Plastic-to-fuel usually refers to pyrolysis, according to "Conversion technology: A complement to plastic recycling," a landmark research report by 4R Sustainability and funded by the ACC. Pyrolysis is the thermochemical decomposition of a material without the presence of air or oxygen. It heats materials to very high temperatures, resulting in their physical phase change.
Pyrolysis typically results in about 65 percent diesel-like fuel, about 5 percent heavier-weight or waste-product fuel, and about 30 percent vaporous gas, according to Wooster. This gas can be burned within the same plant to power the pyrolysis process. These efficiencies are much higher than turning fossil fuel or natural gas into electricity, which is only about 33 1/3 percent efficient. "That's why it doesn't make sense to burn natural gas in a plant to make electricity, and then heat homes with that electricity."
Any of these energy-recovery processes can be used for either post-consumer or post-industrial waste, but some work better with known sources. A process that works only with a specific plastic feedstock is better suited for post-industrial waste, since contamination is more likely with post-consumer waste.
RDF works with any plastic, but the energy content differs. Polyethylene and polypropylene have the highest energy content and polyethylene terephthalate or polyester have the lowest energy content. Some of the newer processes work better with some plastics than with others, said Wooster.
For those interested, the 4R Sustainability research report mentioned in the article can be found here: http://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Plastics-to-Oil
A more recent study, also funded by the ACC, is an environmental and economic analysis of four plastics-to-energy conversion technologies: pyrolysis, gasification, plasma arc, and anaerobic digestion. That one can be found here: http://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Sustainability-Recycling/Energy-Recovery/Environmental-and-Economic-Analysis-of-Emerging-Plastics-Conversion-Technologies.pdf
Great article Ann. Especially all the numbers and links to explore really help.
This tech should be a great money maker for equipment suppliers and small business using it to make fuel, thus money. The price of gasoline, diesel will be $10-11/gal in just 5 yrs in today's $ because of 4B new oil users.
Anyone know what plastic make what and exactly what is the problem with PET and about the 50% like it?
I'd like to do a Plastics to fuel unit just for kicks plus I might need one in the future. My EV's are fine for transport only needing fuel for long trips.
I'm amazed no comments about a tech that can about solve the plastics waste, pollution problem while helping solve others like fuel security. This is really important tech in so many ways making 50k jobs, helping energy security and nicely improving the quality of life, especially that in the water but ours too.
I am supprised that this is not more widely used. There is plenty of feedstock. If the government wants to put its money into green energy, this is the place to do it.
Doubt the govt would invest in this, even if it does make sense. Green "investment" is, IMO, about securing the votes of a particular group. This tech creates and burns (horrors) petroleum products. Combustion of any kind will be anethema to them.
Thanks for the additional links Ann. I've been following JBI for the last year. There's so much controversy around the way the comapny's being run, that it's interferring with the day-to-day progress.
It's a great idea given the world situation. If they can get more gov't contracts, wider appeal and use will follow.
The old phrase "follow the money" applies here though. I've noticed over the last few years, it seems to be in most industries and countries best interest to keep the price of oil high-even artificailly high. That's quite a shift from previous decades.
No doubt that we need viable alternatives but, as usual, the "how" and not the "what" needs to be examined.
Personally - I wish we could get the government out of all this. The whole economics and marketplace interaction between various green and "non-green" technologies is confused by introducing government money and mandates into the mix. Plus its picking winners and losers. Solyndra comes to mind.
That said, this is interesting technology with high potential. Right now, the company I work for ships all sorts of plastic scrap over to China. Whatever we cannot recover and use internally goes there. I have no idea what they do with it.
My guess is the situation at my company is just a microcosm of the plastics industry and would be curious to know how many other plastics processors do the same. Maybe at some point it would pay for processors to recover energy from their scrap - if reusing the plastic itself isn't feasible.
Tim and naperlou, these technologies, primarily pyrolysis, could not be widely used previously because they are just on the verge of scaling up. One of the reasons it's taken so long is because of widespread misunderstanding of what pyrolysis is and what it entails, on the part of both law-makers and citizens/voters. Much of this has been due to confusion about its name and what it means, and to confusing this technology with those that do, in fact, burn. However, even those that do, like WTE, are, by law, entirely closed-loop emission-contained systems.
Dennis, I'm not sure which technology you mean that "burns," but the main one mentioned in this article, pyrolysis, does not. Despite the Greek word for "fire" at the root of "pyrolysis," when applied to the chemical conversion of plastics the term doesn't mean burning or incineration. As the article states, "Pyrolysis is the thermochemical decomposition of a material without the presence of air or oxygen." As just mentioned, even WTE, which does burn, is by law an entirely closed-loop emission-contained system. Today, this is a non-issue, at least in the US.
Jerry dycus; One of the 'small' units produces 1 gallon of oil per hour. Another 'small' unit consumes 22 lbs of plastic and produces 2.7 gallons of oil per hour. How would you feed one of these ? How much plastic waste do you think a household would generate ? And would it be the best 'grade' of plastic to feed one of theswe systems ? I think this is a great concept, but I don't think it would be a good fit for household use, yet. Also, I have looked into wind turbines, but not really seriously - the wind where I live is not enough to power one. I like the idea of solar for household water heating. I don't know if the efficiency of photovoltaic cost-justifies a single-home system.
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