Boca del Rio, Mexico (AP) – A Mexican startup aims to tackle the issue of plastic waste in the Gulf city by converting it into gasoline, diesel, or other types of fuel.
With less than 10% of the world’s plastics being recycled, Pechas envisions that waste plastic could be repurposed into valuable fuel rather than discarded.
Petgas developed a machine in Boca del Rio that employs pyrolysis, a thermodynamic method that heats plastics in an oxygen-free environment to produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin, and coke.
Chief Technology Officer Carlos Parraguirre Díaz stated that the device can process 1.5 tonnes of plastic weekly, yielding 356 gallons (1,350 liters) of fuel.
This process initially requires propane for heating but utilizes the gas generated by pyrolysis to sustain itself. Although it emits carbon dioxide when it consumes the fuel, the company claims its net emissions are lower than that of conventional fuels due to reduced sulfur content.
Parraguirre Díaz expressed that the machine “can transform plastic into a high-value product in the global economy.”
“Instead of a landfill, it’s as if we’ve excavated a hydrocarbon that our community can utilize,” he remarked.
Global plastic production, which is already exceeding 400 million tons annually, could spike by 70% by 2040 without effective policy changes, according to the United Nations. In 2023, China was the largest exporter of plastic products, followed by Germany and the United States.
A significant amount of plastics is utilized in packaging. Each day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks’ worth of plastic is dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes.
Negotiations on treaties to combat plastic pollution were ongoing in Busan, South Korea, in December, aiming to finalize a legally binding agreement by the end of 2024 to address plastic pollution, including in oceans.
Pettis envisions a circular economy where plastics are not wasted but instead serve as a resource for energy production.
To support this vision, the company has initiated a plastic collection campaign to clean up bottles and other debris from the local beaches, encouraging residents to drop off their plastic waste at designated points, mostly receiving clean, shredded material from recyclers.
Alexa Mendoza, a marine plastic pollution biologist not involved in the project, noted that while the Petgas Plan is a positive initiative, it acts more like a “band-aid” for a vast global problem.
“It seems insufficient to merely apply a band-aid and say, ‘Great, we’ve solved it,’ but it could be a stepping stone,” Mendoza noted. “From this point, we need to ensure it doesn’t become a new source of contamination, with the assistance of scientists.”
For the time being, Petgas is donating the fuel it generates to local fire departments and food delivery services.
“Our vision is to scale up production to create a real impact,” Parraguirre Díaz concluded.
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Source: apnews.com