Turning most commonly used synthetic plastic in to fuel

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) in China have devised a way to turn millions of tons of plastic garbage into liquid fuel.

The researchers figured out how to break down the strong bonds of polyethylene, the most common commercially available form of plastic. Current approaches are cumbersome. They include using caustic chemicals known as radicals or heating the material to more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit to break down the chemical bonds of the polymers.

The researchers degraded plastics in a milder and more efficient manner through a process known as cross-alkane metathesis. The icing on the cake is that substances needed for the new method are byproducts of oil refining.

Details appear in the latest issue of journal Science Advances.