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The mighty plastic -

When it comes to useful materials, there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Sure, rubber is great and wood isn’t bad either, but nothing trumps plastic!

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It's all around us -

It is impossible to overstate the importance of plastic to our everyday lives. For instance, it insulates the electrical cables that power our homes and it houses the pipes that deliver our water.

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Favorite food packaging -

It is also, of course, the material most commonly used to package food. Anyone who has ever tried to reduce their plastic consumption will be acutely aware of this.

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The problem statement -

Plastic is great for its malleability and its durability, but it is notoriously difficult to recycle. In fact, only 9% of all plastic ever made has been recycled into new plastics.

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Number crunch -

The yearly production of plastic stands at more than 380 million tonnes globally. To put that into perspective, we’re talking about the same weight as 2,700,000 blue whales!

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The harsh reality -

Of that huge amount, only 16% is recycled to make new plastics. Some 40% is sent to landfill, 25% is incinerated, and the other 16% is, to be frank about it, dumped.

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The problem is easily avoided -

There are lots of plastics that could perfectly well be recycled, but that end up in landfill either because of confusion about curbside recycling or contamination with food waste.

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A possible solution -

It may be possible simply to increase the recycling rate of these plastics by educating people more thoroughly about exactly what can be recycled and what can’t.

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The trickier issue -

However, there are also plastics that are simply more difficult to recycle in traditional recycling plants because they are made of composites that are difficult to break down.

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A real head scratcher -

Increasing the recycling rate of these plastics has traditionally been a tricky endeavor. However, recent innovations in chemical recycling suggest we may be getting closer.

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The concept -

Chemical recycling involves turning plastic back into what it was made from: oil. It differs from traditional recycling, during which the plastic is always plastic, simply melted and remoulded.

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Spiralling downward -

Traditional recycling is sometimes described as a “downward spiral,” referring to the fact that every time the plastic is recycled, its quality is degraded.

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Limited life span -

When the plastic is melted, its tensile strength and viscosity decrease and it becomes harder to process. The majority of plastics can only be recycled a number of times in the traditional way.

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Chemical recycling for the win -

Chemical recycling aims to combat this problem by breaking down plastics into their chemical building blocks and using those blocks to create fuels or new plastics.

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Progress thus far -

Historically, chemical recycling has been unfeasible because of the amount of energy it requires. However, recent developments suggest we may be getting closer to a scalable solution.

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Simple stuff -

The process of chemical recycling that is receiving the most attention is called “feedstock recycling,” and in general it is not so complicated.

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Same same -

Insofar as the plastic is picked up from the curbside, sorted at a facility, and then taken to a recycling plant, it is the same as traditional recycling.

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But different -

From the recycling plant, however, the process of chemical recycling requires that the plastic be taken to a pyrolysis center to be melted down.

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Et voilà! -

It is then fed into a pyrolysis reactor and heated to extreme temperatures. This turns the plastic into a gas, which is then condensed into an oil-like liquid.

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A global phenomenon -

In a final step, that oil-like liquid is distilled into fractions that can be used for varying purposes.

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Recycling Technologies -

Chemical recycling techniques are currently being trialled all over the world. In the UK, the company Recycling Technologies has developed a machine that can turn hard-to-recycle plastics into a liquid hydrocarbon feedstock that can be used to make virgin-quality plastic.

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Plastic recycling -

Recycling Technologies installed their first commercial-scale unit in Perth, Scotland in 2020.

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Plastic Energy -

Of course, there are other companies in the mix. For example, Plastic Energy has developed a plant that can turn hard-to-recycle plastic waste into a feedstock that can be used to make food-grade plastics.

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Plastic Energy -

Plastic Energy already has two commercial-scale plants in Spain, and the company has plans to expand into France, the Netherlands, and the UK.

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Mura Technology -

In the UK, another company called Mura Technology has started to build a plant that will be able to recycle all kinds of plastic. This plant will be the very first of its kind.

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The marvel of Mura -

The Mura plant will be able to handle mixed plastic, colored plastic, plastic of all composites and stages of decay, and even plastic that is contaminated with waste.

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The supporters -

Scientist Sharon George, who is a senior lecturer in environmental science at Keele University, has described it as “true circular recycling.”

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And the skeptics -

Others are more sceptical, however, and some have expressed concerns that the real focus should be on increasing resource efficiency rather than relying on recycling.

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All in all -

Whether chemical recycling is the right way forward or not, no one can deny that it is an exciting prospect that may help us solve the seemingly never-ending problem of plastic waste.

Sources: (BBC)

See also: Underwater farms: a new hope for combating climate change?

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