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The company is using technology developed by Plas2Fuel, a Kelso, Wash. company, to turn dirty, low-value and typically non-recycled plastics into crude oil that can be refined and used in other applications.
Agri-Plas handles all plastics except for PVC. Much of the material gets recycled and is used in making new products like nursery pots. But some materials lend themselves less to being used in new products, or they carry little recycling value. That includes agricultural film, greenhouse and ground cover, nursery pots and trays, bailing twine and prepackaged food containers.
Using a plastic-to-oil converting unit from Plas2Fuel, Agri-Plas turns the plastic into synthetic crude oil and ships it to a refinery in Tacoma, Wash., and it can then be use in making plastic products or lubricants, gasoline and other petroleum-based products.
The first shipment was equivalent to 196 barrel of oil, and Agri-Plas expects to send another full tanker this month.
Agri-Plas plans to add three more plastic-to-oil converting units to make one full system at its current production plant. The company also plans to break ground this year on a new facility that will eventually house five full plastic-to-oil systems, and in a year they hope to be pumping out enough crude oil to deliver one full tanker a day.
Oil barrels - CC license by ezioman
a step in the right direction
Combined with carbon scrubbing technology, which is adaptable to vehicle exhaust systems, this provides a way of easing away from mining fossil fuels whilst maintaining the same infrastructure for transport, etc (for the time being) whilst reducing landfill.
Great idea, but..
Ok, so this is a great way of getting rid of unrecyclable plastic but the crude oil produced from it is just going to end up in the atmosphere as greenhouse gases! We do actually need to move on from the insiduous and pervasive effects of crude oil. So, is this really such a good idea?
Huge!
Although I don't fully understand the potential environmental impact of turing platics back into oil, the concept is amazing! I've always wondered what to do with these waste items that my city does not accept. I'm sure this happens all over the country. If every region had a way to recycle these things, we could start adding them to our recycling bins and keep them out of the landfills.