Recycling initiative transforms plastics into oil and gas sources abundant in hydrocarbons
A groundbreaking pyrolysis process has been developed by a team of researchers from Enea, a leading Italian research body. This process aims to revolutionise the way we manage plastic waste, particularly that recovered from the sea and beaches.
The innovative process, developed in the Laboratory of technologies for reuse, recycling, recovery, and valorization of waste and materials, thermally decomposes plastic waste in the absence of oxygen. This decomposition breaks down the long polymer chains of plastics into smaller hydrocarbon molecules, resulting in a synthetic oil often referred to as pyrolysis oil or pyro-oil.
This oil, rich in hydrocarbons, can then be refined and processed to obtain various chemical fractions. These fractions serve as precursors for producing new plastics, paints, solvents, and organic compounds. The new plastics can act as raw materials for polymerization, while the paints can utilize the oil as solvents or chemical components. The solvents benefit from favourable hydrocarbon profiles, and the organic compounds find use in multiple industrial applications.
The pyrolysis approach offers a circular method to recycle marine plastic waste, reducing environmental pollution and creating valuable chemical feedstocks from otherwise challenging waste materials. This could potentially simplify operations compared to those for solid urban waste, and the new oil produced by this process could potentially be used for the production of new fuels and chemicals.
The gases produced during the thermochemical treatment were more than sufficient to meet the energy requirements of the process. The catalyst used in the pyrolysis process was obtained from industrial waste, specifically ashes produced by gasification and coal combustion plants. The annual worldwide production of the catalyst's source material is approximately 1 billion tons.
The development of this new plastic collection process could have significant impacts on the industry. By converting plastic waste recovered from the sea into a new type of oil, this process could potentially overcome the problems associated with mechanical collection, such as the deterioration of plastics due to solar radiation and the presence of sand, salt, shells, and algae.
The use of this industrial waste in the synthesis of catalysts could represent a step towards the sustainability of production processes. If detailed technical data or recent developments from ENEA are required, consulting ENEA’s official publications or technical reports would provide precise insights beyond this summary.
The groundbreaking pyrolysis process, developed by Enea's team, significantly advances environmental-science by offering a solution to manage plastic waste, especially marine waste. This process converts plastic waste into pyrolysis oil or pyro-oil, a hydrocarbon-rich oil used in the production of health-and-wellness products like new plastics, paints, solvents, and organic compounds. Additionally, the technology employed in this process utilizes a catalyst derived from industrial waste, specifically from ashes generated by gasification and coal combustion plants, further emphasizing the integration of health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and climate-change concerns.
