It sounds like sci-fi: a way to vaporize unwanted objects. But a new process makes poof! a reality. Plastic becomes gas and dust—and then more plastic.
Not too long ago, plastics seemed the best strategy for packaging, food safety, and cutting down on cutting down trees. Today, however, people realize that some plastics pose problems. Some appear in drinking water; some lead to serious health concerns, and many threaten the beauty of God’s creation.
Plastic is everywhere! Attend any sports event, concert, or school activity, and you’ll see plenty of plastic in the form of cups, bottles, bags, cutlery, and coolers. Much of it is single use.
During the recent Paris Olympics, goals were high for reducing plastic waste. However, a post-Games article by the Plastic Pollution Coalition says recycling at the Games didn’t go far beyond collection bins and reprocessed plastic seats. All the plastic bottles and cups likely headed to landfills or to facilities that often create more pollution than product.
Researchers have long sought ways to turn plastic into raw materials for making other plastics. This would create what’s known as a “circular economy”—reusing and recycling—for plastic.
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to go a step further. They sought to reuse plastics without creating harmful gas byproducts. They developed a catalytic process—one that speeds up a chemical reaction but leaves the components intact in the end.
The process works with the two leading types of plastic waste: polyethylene (PE), the component of most single-use plastic bags; and polypropylene (PP), the stuff of hard plastics, from microwavable dishes to luggage.
“We have an enormous amount of [PE] and [PP] in everyday objects, from lunch bags to laundry soap bottles to milk jugs,” says research leader John Hartwig. He says the new process allows researchers to “come closer than anyone to give the same kind of [recyclability]” to PE and PP products.
The UC Berkeley scientists learned to convert waste plastics into raw building block materials for future plastic products. They add chemicals to waste plastic and use a high-pressure reactor to heat and stir the mixture. Unlike normal plastic-making, this process doesn’t produce large amounts of harmful gases. Instead, it allows scientists to extract a useful gas and a bit of residue.
In August, Hartwig and his colleagues published details of their catalytic process in the journal Science.
“We hope that this will enable the carbon in waste plastic to be reused over and over again,” scientists say in a video about the breakthrough. “So less carbon is pulled out of the ground, and less is put into the air.”
Why? Part of good stewardship of God’s Earth may involve developing solutions that help humans create less waste and pollution.
