The scientist found a way to recycle plastic bottles into diesel

Scientists have found a new way to turn plastic waste into liquid fuel. This is a way to use less fuel than previous methods and create a better quality final product.

This is a polyethylene breaking technique - the most readily available plastic in the world, used to make everything from plastic film, food packaging, and water bottles to even bags. It is estimated that up to 100 million tons of polyethylene are released each year .

Currently we have accumulated thousands of tons of plastic waste in underground burial sites and floating in the oceans to form huge garbage islands. According to Fiona MacDonald's report earlier this year, 95% of plastic waste is thrown away when used once. Every year, eight million tons of plastic equivalent to a truck full of garbage are discharged into the ocean every minute.

A report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January if clear: " If not acted immediately, estimate the amount of plastic waste will increase to two trucks per minute by 2030 and four by year. 2050. In the current business context, it is expected that for every ton of plastic per three tons of fish in 2015 and by 2050 the amount of plastic waste will be even more than the total number of fish living in the ocean. "

On average, every ton of plastic waste is discharged every year.(Photo: NanD_PhanuwatTH / Shutterstock.com).

Before this alarm, we need to find ways to turn plastic waste into a commodity that people can use. Finally after a period of calculations, chemists decided to choose liquid hydrocarbons.

Zhibin Guan, a synthetic polymer chemist from the University of California, Irvine, told the Los Angeles Times magazine: "If you dump plastic into the ocean or bury it underground, it will survive. hundreds or even thousands of years ".

Without a specific plan, polyethylene will continue to exist with its current state thanks to a structure with stable single atomic bonds. When the burner is hot enough, these links will separate."When heated to over 400 degrees Celsius, collapsed bonds lead to various compounds such as poison gas, oil, ash and a wax," Zhibin Guan explained.

To solve the problem of "low energy efficiency and lack of product control" , Guan and his team have collaborated with researchers from Shanghai Organic Chemistry Institute to jointly invent plastic recycling techniques. requires the least heat.

This process uses chemical catalysts to break down alternative polymers. This catalyst is used to make polymers.

Currently we have accumulated thousands of tons of plastic waste in underground landfills.

The first catalysts will separate hydrogen atoms from carbon atoms. Next, the team will use the catalyst to process the remaining carbon base of the compound, breaking their structure into single carbon instead of C2. Hydrogen extracted at an earlier stage will be returned to the catalyst to form more useful compounds and this process is repeated several times.

The process of extraction, separation, change, and rearrangement allows the team to gradually change the polyethylene structure into liquid fuel or a wax that can be used for industrial purposes.

Because it only needs to be heated at a temperature of around 175 degrees Celsius, not 400 degrees Celsius as before to decompose plastic, this method uses less energy. However, the disadvantage is that this process takes four days to complete and the catalysts are used very expensive.

Guan and his research team continue to research to provide more effective technical solutions.