LSU Researchers Create Low-Cost Method to Recycle Plastic

[jmotivator]

LSU Researchers Create Low-Cost Method to Recycle Plastic

www.lsu.edu

This is pretty cool. LSU researchers have developed a low cost, low energy method of recovery propylene and ethylene from plastic waste.

One of the biggest issues of the last 20 years in getting plastic recycling profitable was the high cost of separating and processing plastic waste. Numerous economic mechanisms have been tried to make it profitable such that recycling would exist without government intervention, but they haven't really worked. China took on the role of primary recycler but corruption in China and the bad economics of recycling lead many Chinese companies to decide that is was cheaper to just dump the trash in the ocean and just pocketing the subsidies.

This new technique seems like it could solve the economic side of plastic recycling, and based on it's description, it might be able to do it even without a perfect sorting out of plastic -vs- non-plastic waste.

Hell, if this works out we could see local and state waste disposal departments licensing plastic mining from their dumps!

 

[EdwinWillers]

That's pretty cool! I hope it works as well as advertised and we can implement it sooner rather than later.

 

[dmpi]

I'm looking for the day when the 3D printer can remelt scrap plastic and produce useful items out of it.

 

[Port & Starboard]

I hope it works out.

I'm sick of seeing plastic everywheres.

 

[Helix]

Very cool. My wife made me more aware of the importance of recycling and the consequences of not doing so years ago. It's more in the front of my mind when throwing things away these days. I'm still not a perfect recycler, but I'm more conscious of the impact. Hopefully, this strategy will reduce the amount of plastic being dumped into the ocean or shipped to landfills. Thanks for posting this.

 

[jmotivator]

Very cool. My wife made me more aware of the importance of recycling and the consequences of not doing so years ago. It's more in the front of my mind when throwing things away these days. I'm still not a perfect recycler, but I'm more conscious of the impact. Hopefully, this strategy will reduce the amount of plastic being dumped into the ocean or shipped to landfills. Thanks for posting this.

The problem is that what happens after your recycling is picked up is not always actual recycling. Due to the high cost of sorting and breaking down materials, the process has been farmed out to countries with cheap labor costs, like China. In the case of plastic, even China's near-slave labor market was unable to properly sort and recycle at a profit so you recycling often just meant your plastic goods winding up in a landfill in China or, worse, purposely dumped in the ocean on the way to China. If you were trying to save the oceans it got to the point where, unless you lived on a river of ocean, you were better off sending your plastics to the local dump since there was near zero chance of a straw in Oklahoma making its way to an ocean.

If this technique pans out there is a good chance that plastic recycling can actually start happening.

 

[Helix]

The problem is that what happens after your recycling is picked up is not always actual recycling. Due to the high cost of sorting and breaking down materials, the process has been farmed out to countries with cheap labor costs, like China. In the case of plastic, even China's near-slave labor market was unable to properly sort and recycle at a profit so you recycling often just meant your plastic goods winding up in a landfill in China or, worse, purposely dumped in the ocean on the way to China. If you were trying to save the oceans it got to the point where, unless you lived on a river of ocean, you were better off sending your plastics to the local dump since there was near zero chance of a straw in Oklahoma making its way to an ocean.

If this technique pans out there is a good chance that plastic recycling can actually start happening.

I heard a while back that China doesn't want our plastic waste anymore and is often just dumping it if it even makes it there. I still try to put stuff in the recycling anyway. Maybe now, that will be more effective.

 

[verrip1]

Plastics recycling in my state is suffering from too much plastic being saved and sent off as recyclable. Apparently, only the hard plastics are suitable for recycling here, so softer stuff like plastic wrap, straws, baggies, etc. all get sorted away to regular garbage they have to pay to haul off, making plastic recycling a money-losing business. Our AG said he's going to sue Exxon for selling the crude which is the feedstock for soft plastics.

 

[Captain Adverse]

LSU Researchers Create Low-Cost Method to Recycle Plastic

www.lsu.edu

This is pretty cool. LSU researchers have developed a low cost, low energy method of recovery propylene and ethylene from plastic waste.

One of the biggest issues of the last 20 years in getting plastic recycling profitable was the high cost of separating and processing plastic waste. Numerous economic mechanisms have been tried to make it profitable such that recycling would exist without government intervention, but they haven't really worked. China took on the role of primary recycler but corruption in China and the bad economics of recycling lead many Chinese companies to decide that is was cheaper to just dump the trash in the ocean and just pocketing the subsidies.

This new technique seems like it could solve the economic side of plastic recycling, and based on it's description, it might be able to do it even without a perfect sorting out of plastic -vs- non-plastic waste.

Hell, if this works out we could see local and state waste disposal departments licensing plastic mining from their dumps!

Finally, if this if the real deal, another way help to get rid of our most problematic trash product...PLASTICS. The stuff that is not only a problem in our landfills, but a major ecological problem in our oceans.

I wonder what happened to the "plastic-eating bacteria?"

 

[mrjurrs]

LSU Researchers Create Low-Cost Method to Recycle Plastic

www.lsu.edu

This is pretty cool. LSU researchers have developed a low cost, low energy method of recovery propylene and ethylene from plastic waste.

One of the biggest issues of the last 20 years in getting plastic recycling profitable was the high cost of separating and processing plastic waste. Numerous economic mechanisms have been tried to make it profitable such that recycling would exist without government intervention, but they haven't really worked. China took on the role of primary recycler but corruption in China and the bad economics of recycling lead many Chinese companies to decide that is was cheaper to just dump the trash in the ocean and just pocketing the subsidies.

This new technique seems like it could solve the economic side of plastic recycling, and based on it's description, it might be able to do it even without a perfect sorting out of plastic -vs- non-plastic waste.

Hell, if this works out we could see local and state waste disposal departments licensing plastic mining from their dumps!

Science rocks!

 

[jmotivator]

I wonder what happened to the "plastic-eating bacteria?"

Had to call in sick because my car got an infection.

 

[Citizen]

Plastics recycling in my state is suffering from too much plastic being saved and sent off as recyclable. Apparently, only the hard plastics are suitable for recycling here, so softer stuff like plastic wrap, straws, baggies, etc. all get sorted away to regular garbage they have to pay to haul off, making plastic recycling a money-losing business. Our AG said he's going to sue Exxon for selling the crude which is the feedstock for soft plastics.

That is why many states have banned plastic bags