Japanese Invention Turns Plastic Trash into Oil
One of the reasons plastic disposable water bottles have become the arch-nemeses of environmentalists in recent years is that they are (like all other plastics) made out of crude oil. All those plastic bottles, plastic silverware, plastic toys, etc. use up a lot of oil. The GOOD Magazine blog posted a video from United Nations University on Monday that covered Akinori Ito’s creation of a machine that turns raw plastic trash into a derivation of crude oil.
The machine is incredibly small and portable, and uses only heat and water to extract the raw fuel from all kinds of plastic. As Ito, the CEO of the Blest corporation, explains in the video, the portability of the machine allows him to take it to developing countries with serious trash disposal problems and show schoolchildren that plastic waste can be a valuable commodity. Just like out-of-the ground crude, the oil extracted from plastic can be refined into gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.
Although the fuel from plastic is still a fossil fuel that emits carbon dioxide when burned, it could help reduce the carbon footprint of fuel production by sourcing plastic from population centers near refineries rather than shipping crude great distances.
Just another example of simple but amazing technology that could help power our world AND reduce our carbon footprint while reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. And because it is a potential source of diesel fuel, plastic could soon be a new raw material for making heating oil. The future is now, people!