Scientists has just introduced a breathtaking process to turn plastic waste into clean fuel.
Researchers co-led by the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and South Korea’s Ewha Womans University have developed a chemical process that transforms mixed, unsorted plastic waste directly into high-purity hydrogen fuel while storing carbon.
The technique successfully handles a mixture of the three most common consumer plastics—PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PE (polyethylene), and PP (polypropylene)—together in a single reactor.
Built-In Carbon Capture:
Unlike burning or standard gasification which spews carbon dioxide, the reaction’s sodium hydroxide reagent traps the plastic’s carbon, converting over 75% of it into stable solid carbonates or liquid residues to permanently lock it away.
Utilizing an adapted Alkaline Thermal Treatment (ATT) method, the process operates at temperatures 300°C to 400°C lower than traditional steam gasification.
This solid byproduct can be easily further converted into calcium carbonate-a stable mineral by permanently locking the carbon away and preventing atmospheric emissions. Â
