from the save-the-plant-collect-the-whole-set dept.
Have you ever wondered what happens when you put plastic in the recycling bin for collection? It probably goes straight into the garbage tip with the rest of the trash. Up to a short time ago, countries like China offered a decent price for usable plastic, but those deals have dried up, leaving many countries with millions of tonnes of plastic and few solutions to deal with it.
Now, Australian company Licella says it has created a system that can recycle all types of plastic, even to the extent of creating oil that can be turned into bitumen, petrol or back into different kinds of plastics.
His Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR) does just that through a form of chemical recycling that changes the plastics at a molecular level using hot water at a high pressure to turn them back into oil.
[...] Dr Humphreys said the Cat-HTR technology he and his co-founder patented was different from existing plastic-to-oil technologies like pyrolysis, which is a process that involves heating materials at a very high temperature.
Unlike traditional physical recycling, it does not require plastics to be separated according to type and colour, and can recycle anything from milk cartons to wetsuits and even wood by-products.
It also means plastic products can be recycled again and again.
But he said the bigger problem to address is our over-consumption of plastic.
The process of turning rubbish into fuel may sound familiar to sci-fi fans. In the film Back to the Future the time machine car uses garbage as fuel.
The industry has been widely described as in crisis, with a[n Australian] Senate report last year stating that "enormous quantities of recycled material, particularly materials collected through kerbside recycling, are now being stockpiled at great risk to the health and safety of local communities. Moreover, quantities of otherwise recyclable material are being sent to landfill".
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Zinho on Wednesday November 20 2019, @05:46PM (12 children)
It's interesting that this company (Licella) is making a press release on chemical recycling of plastics as if they were the only player in that space. I just survived a presentation/indoctrination attempt by BASF at my office where they were thumping their chests about having commercialized Chemcycling [basf.com] of non-recyclable plastics. BASF also claims to have 6 plants already operational offering the service to customers. Dr Humphreys seems to be a bit behind the curve here as far as first-mover advantage goes.
Of course, neither Dr Humphreys nor BASF were making claims that their processes were cost effective. Both seem to be assuming that the market for this service will appear when communities decide that it's more important to reclaim these plastics than to save taxpayer money by dumping the undesirable materials in a landfill. I expect that if we ever truly hit peak oil this economic balance will shift in their favor. Ideally, the market for chemcycled plastics and chemical feedstocks will be high enough that companies like Licella and BASF could offer to pay communities for their plastic scraps. That may be a long way off.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:11PM
This is a way of the world; authorities liberate subjects from their money, and entrepreneurs line up to help bureaucrats squander the spoils.
"So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:19PM (6 children)
What might tip the balance is not the costs, but the environmental impact. We're finding plastics at the remotest parts of the oceans and EVERYWHERE we look. Right now the message is "don't worry, there is no evidence to suggest that the microplastics we ingest cause any harm." It is not too big of a step to cross a line whereby there is enough political momentum to address that, like what happened to a number of other things such as CFCs or leaded gasoline.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:43PM (4 children)
That very much depends on the size of the government involved. My county, for example, does not even operate a landfill; their official position is that if residents want trash dealt with then they can contract with private disposal companies. There are no recycling services offered either publicly or privately in my county.
I can imagine some richer nations deciding to be global good-Samaritans and acting unilaterally; that gets us back to the model proposed by another AC post.... [soylentnews.org]
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @07:48PM
Cynicism in that AC post aside, I do think it has been an overwhelming positive for almost all the participants on this planet that leaded gasoline and CFCs were removed. But I do think it will take that level of effort to address the plastics problem, and I'm not so sure the political will exists at this point to address it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @07:52AM (2 children)
Where do you live? I'm genuinely curious what nation doesn't have /any/ recycling programme, given that elsewhere, recycling aluminum and metal, pulp and paper, and rags, are all economically profitable. Small island nation? Is there industry? Are there pollution laws? What happens to the waste that humans make?
Middens and other trash piles go back millennia, are treasure troves for historians, but only recently have some cultures began creating refuse at ridiculous rates. Does everyone there use a private disposal company? Are backyard middens a thing? If so, what happens to non-biodegradeables?
(Score: 3, Informative) by ewk on Thursday November 21 2019, @10:53AM (1 child)
Perhaps a matter of: county country/nation
If so, the waste is most likely shipped out of the county to another county.
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Thursday November 21 2019, @01:01PM
You are correct, I'm not referring to my nation, but the region around my city. The contractors pay to dump my neighborhood's waste in landfills operated by other nearby regions.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday November 21 2019, @03:35AM
It goes to magic-land, where the plastic is turned into rainbows and unicorns. It's also used to grow steaks and prime rib, so no cute moo-cows ever get harmed.
It's scary for how many people things work like this.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:36PM (1 child)
Not being cost-effective compared to making new material from scratch is not necessarily a big problem, assuming the costs remain practical. For example, if it costs $10000 to recycle the plastic and produce $1 worth of raw materials then this is not going to work out no matter what you do.
The city where I live is having a problem in that the landfills which exist today are running out of space. Even though it would be possible, attempting to build a new landfill somewhere else is likely to be political suicide. So there is a strong incentive to reduce the amount of material going to the existing landfills.
If the processes exist to recycle the material then a good way to achieve this result is to ensure that the purchase price of a product covers the costs of recycling (this can be accomplished in several different ways). This has two main benefits: first, the material can be recycled which should reduce the proportion of that material which ends up in landfills; and second, it provides an economic incentive for everyone to reduce the amount of waste material in the first place.
Using the tax base to pay for recycling does not really provide anyone with an incentive to actually reduce waste, so I would suggest it is not going to be as effective.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Wednesday November 20 2019, @07:07PM
Agreed on the incentive to not purchase recyclables. Like tariffs, recycling surcharges at time of purchase would make non-plastic packaging more attractive to the consumer on a cost basis.
Also agreed; if there is no incentive/penalty at the time of disposal then the consumer may simply absorb the tax as part of normal inflation and continue to send plastic to the landfill. I've heard that Norway is successful at encouraging separation of compostables from other waste via a hefty fine. Glass/metal/paper are also separated from the waste stream, and there are recycling drops on nearly every street corner to make dropoff easy; not sure if there are fines on those. I do know that several municipalities incinerate their waste, converting it to electrical power for a profit; the fines on mixing wet waste with dry is justified by pointing out that it poisons the incinerator and reduces the effectiveness of the burn.
TL; DR:
I think you're right that there are business cases for processes like this. It requires public goodwill and the right regulatory framework, so mileage may vary by community.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 4, Informative) by captain normal on Wednesday November 20 2019, @11:06PM (1 child)
https://cleanoceansinternational.org/ [cleanoceansinternational.org]
These folks have been working on turning plastics into fuel for over a decade now. I personally know Jim Holm He is not a scam artist, he is the real deal.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Thursday November 21 2019, @02:31AM
... I never said the process didn't work. I just said it wasn't profitable. From the multiple donation links and the phrase, "Your donations are what keep us going!" on the website you linked, I think I'm still right.
Please don't take my economic cynicism as a condemnation of people making positive change in the world! I was already aware of Clean Oceans International, and I respect their work a lot. It took a lot of nerve to put that enterprise together while depending on donations; I'm happy for him that it's working out! This model of fixing the oceans may be the best way for it to happen. The people who care enough to fund it are making the ocean cleaner, and it's making a real difference. I'm a bit doubtful that any national government would have the will to use their taxpayers' dollars to fund a similar effort. We need more organizations like COI in the world.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:11PM (8 children)
Is it being recycled [decontaminated] also?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:35PM (7 children)
The article is very light on the exact details of the process they but it is probably very similar to hydrous pyrolysis [wikipedia.org] in which case the water actually gets broken down to provide the base Hydrogen and oxygen to fill in the breaks of the polymers in the plastic as they get broken down.
And if they do anything stupid with the water you can bet the environmentalists will be screaming about it in short order.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday November 20 2019, @07:09PM (5 children)
I wonder if they could use a lower quality non-potable water for this process?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 20 2019, @07:27PM (4 children)
Precisely. I don't want to drain the aquifers for this. Let them figure out how to use water from the ocean.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday November 20 2019, @10:53PM (2 children)
Or sewage processed to a level that it is clean for watering lawns, with sprinklers, flushing toilets, washing cars, etc.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @11:07PM (1 child)
You want us to wash our cars with pisswater? Looks like we found the vegan.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday November 21 2019, @08:38PM
I am not a vegan.
I don't hate vegans.
They are very tasty when cooked and seasoned properly.
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday November 20 2019, @10:54PM
Save the aquifers. Drain the Oceans instead!!!
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday November 20 2019, @11:26PM
Good. If they're doing stupid things with a community resource everyone ought to be screaming.
(Score: 2) by Gault.Drakkor on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:41PM
Sounds pretty similar to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization [wikipedia.org]
Which had demo plants in 2006. But parent company filed chap11 in 2009 says wiki.
Both use heat and pressure to turn complex polymers into simpler hydrocarbons.
Hopefully this company does better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @10:03AM
Just burn the damn plastic. We waste so much time discussing this shit where a solution already exists. Take the plastic, and burn it in a proper oil incinerator for energy. This would be much more energy efficient than current coal burning plants and it would actually make a market for the plastic.
Burn it. Stop dicking around with pointless solutions that will never really function. These things existed for a decade+. Another is turning all types of plastic into diesel or asphalt.
The real problem is no one wants to do anything about the problem except for studying it and shipping it to some 3rd world country so they will burn it on the beaches creating a fuckton of dioxin and other persistent shit in the process.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @03:05PM (1 child)
you could just extrude it into shapes that make good artificial reefs.
Truly I'm not so sure the problem is one of "plastic in the ocean", so much as it is a problem of "plastic, in the wrong shape, in the ocean".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:33PM
Trouble is Parrot Fish would turn reef into rubble in not that long.
Then we are right back where we started.
I think the big problem is plastic tends to float.