Winning MIT Idea: Convert Plastic Trash to Diesel Fuel

Plastics remain the bane of many environmentalists, but aspiring venture capitalists seem to see polymers in a different light. Two of the top four finishers in this year’s Rice University Business Plan Competition focus on plastics. The winners get star treatment in the current issue of Fortune Magazine in a section headlined “Venture”.

The first place finisher is a new pharmaceutical and number two is an Internet tool for human authentication. And at number three is a project called PK Clean from two students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their intriguing idea? Conversion of plastic waste into diesel fuel. That should stop all the trash talk about plastics.

At the fourth spot is a project called cyclewood Plastics from  a student team at the University of Arkansas. These students have developed a marketing plan for a biodegradable plastic bag made from a byproduct of paper production. OK. That one sounds like a pretty well tried-and tested idea. Many companies are now selling biodegradable plastic bags from a variety or renewable feedstocks. The one edge for cyclewood is use of a waste byproduct in a technology developed at the University of Minnesota. And who knows–maybe their bags will degrade faster than the competition!