Waste Plastics Can Be A Cheap Fuel Source

FOR RELEASE: Tues., Jan. 21

ACS News Service
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Print media:
im Bohning, 202/872-6041 (office), [email protected]
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1/13/97 #12120

News Summary

WASTE PLASTICS CAN BE A CHEAP FUEL SOURCE

The plastic bottle you throw in the recycling bin today may be in your gas tank tomorrow. That type of reclamation of waste material is now possible, according to Dr. Joseph Shabtai of the University of Utah. The results of his work appear in the January/February issue of Energy & Fuels, a bimonthly publication of the American Chemical Society.

Ideally, Shabtai says, plastics should be recycled by depolymerization, a procedure that reclaims the small monomer molecules that were used to make the long polymer chains. But reversing the process by which polymers are made is difficult, partly because most waste streams consist of a mixture of different plastics. However, Shabtai adds, waste plastics and rubber can be regarded as a potentially cheap and abundant source for transportation fuels.

Although many studies have been made of polymer degradation, very few have looked at how advanced liquid fuels can be produced. Shabtai has found a catalyst and processing conditions that will promote the depolymerization of both polyethylene and polypropylene, converting the solid plastic into a liquid that is similar to gasoline in composition and boiling point range. Because this can be done at relatively mild temperatures with a conversion rate of more than 90 percent, Shabtai believes that waste polyethylene, polypropylene or even mixed plastics can be effectively converted into a mixture of hydrocarbons that can be used as blending components for reformulated gasolines.

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