Japanese Inventor Built a Machine That Reverts Plastic Back to Oil

Americans use 100 billion plastic bags every year on average, which are made with 12 million barrels of oil.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Solution to Plastic Pollution

When you think regarding the fact that a single plastic bag takes 1,000 years to break down, you can see how much rubbish is accumulating in landfills and being dumped into the ocean. What's more, these plastic bags don't even decompose fully.

They are contaminated by sunlight and transform into microplastics, which absorb poisons and pollute the environment.

While the statistics are alarming, there are several, and often inventive, methods to safely recycle plastic bags.

Akinori Ito, a Japanese innovator, has come up with a clever solution. Ito has developed a machine that transforms plastic bags into gasoline. The generated fuel may be utilized for a variety of purposes, including heat generation.

Ito discovered that since plastic bags are made from oil, they may be transformed back to their original state. The generated crude oil may be used to power generators and certain stoves. When refined, it may be used to power vehicles, boats, and motorcycles as an alternative to gasoline.

One liter of oil may be produced from one kilogram of plastic. The conversion procedure requires around 1 kWh of power, which is worth about 20 cents.

The clever device is designed for home usage and has the ability to provide users with energy independence. As a result, there is less need to remove more oil from the ground.

Also Read: Can Magnets Help Break Down Microplastics in Marine Pollution?

How Does Ito's Machine Works?

The machine employs very efficient pyrolysis, which is the high-temperature transformation of a substance into a smaller and simpler one. It can handle a variety of polymers, including polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene. It cannot, however, process PET bottles.

The heating of the plastic is the first step in the procedure. The food is subsequently placed in a pressurized, oxygen-free oven. It's heated to 800 degrees Fahrenheit (427 degrees Celsius), which transforms the plastic into a liquid.

After that, the machine turns the liquid into a gas. The generated gas is then collected and stored for further cooling. When the vapor cools, it condenses and produces crude oil.

The machine produces a combination of gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and heavy oil as crude oil. When fed the right ingredients, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene, the machine produces no harmful chemicals. In addition, the machine generates a little quantity of inert char residue that may be discarded with ordinary waste.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Is Shunning Single-use Plastic a Better Solution?

Many people believe that this form of recycling is ineffective and that the world should instead concentrate on the first "R" - reduce.

They say that single-use plastic (such as your typical PET bottle or throwaway container) should be avoided at all costs. 

Although methane, ethane, propane, and butane gasses are emitted during the conversion process, the machine has an off-gas filter that converts them to water and carbon.

Related Article: Inspired by Natural Cycles, Scientists are Developing a New Method of Recycling Plastics

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