Recycling plastic into fuel and wax. Free Technical Library News

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Recycling plastic into fuel and wax

02.01.2021

Scientists in Japan have created a new catalyst to turn ordinary plastic into useful products like fuel and wax.

Plastics are by design extremely resistant to chemical reactions. This makes them excellent for bottles and chemical containers. But on the other hand, it is precisely because of this that plastic is extremely difficult to recycle. For example, the thermal processing process requires a temperature of 300 to 900 degrees Celsius, which consumes a lot of energy.

In a new study, scientists from Japan decided to find a catalyst that could destroy plastic at lower temperatures. The team found that combining ruthenium and cerium dioxide creates a catalyst capable of processing polyolefin plastics at temperatures as low as 200 degrees Celsius.

"Our approach has proven to be more efficient than metal-based catalysts. In addition, plastic bags and plastic waste can be recycled into valuable chemicals," said study co-authors Masazumi Tamura and Keiichi Tomishige.

The researchers say they have been able to convert about 92% of plastic waste into useful materials, of which 77% have been turned into liquid fuels and 15% into wax.

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Magnetic tumbler for cage 19.02.2008

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