By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, AUG 18, 2014: A number of countries, including USA, Germany, Japan, Australia and United Kingdom (UK) are working on development of lab scale technologies for conversion of plastic waste into liquid hydrocarbon oil. A company based in New York has pioneered the development of a process that drives ultra-clean, ultra-low sulphur fuel which does not require further refining, directly from unwashed, unsorted waste plastics. Approximately 85 to 90 percent of the hydrocarbon composition in the feedstock is converted into a “near diesel” fuel, while about 8 percent is converted to a usable off gas much like natural gas. In addition, only one percent of the plastic becomes residue, and that residue does not contain any highly toxic elements and is safe for landfill disposal.

Germany has also developed such technology on laboratory scale to convert plastic waste into liquid hydrocarbon oil. The Thermo catalytic Low Temperature Converter (Loop Reactor) has been demonstrated in the 1980’s by the University of Applied Sciences in Tubingen and in 2006 by the University of Applies Sciences in Giessen-Friedberg.

In addition to the above, a Japanese company has developed a technique to convert plastic waste into oil and electricity using the recyclable plastic. The Company has installed small demonstration unit in Hiratsuka city, Japan.

The CSIR institute - Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun has developed a technology for the conversion of waste plastic into petroleum products after nearly a decade long experimental research. Gas Authority of India Ltd. has sponsored the entire project for developing a combination of catalyst which can convert plastic either into gasoline or diesel or aromatics along with LPG as a common byproduct. The unique feature of the technology is that liquid fuel, gasoline and diesel, meets Euro-III fuel specifications and different products can be obtained from the same raw material by simply changing the catalysts and operating parameters.

Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun (IIP) is exploring the economic viability of the technology in order to refine the technology, so that it may be available to public for future use.

This was stated by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha last Friday.