Man Turns Plastic Into Oil

[Hattie]

We came across this amazing video. If it works this could literally change the world!! Don't bother turning on your sound as it is in Japanese (just read the subtitles). Hubby says the man is basically distilling plastic!!

http://www.flixxy.com/convert-plastic-to-oil.htm

What are your thoughts on this?

[Mrs-M]

Awesome! Super great video! Just when you think there is no hope, along comes this! It's like, days, and years, and decades go by with no sign of ingenuity related to waste management and the recouping of spent materials and resources, then a breakthrough. It brings me new hope in the fight for our future survival on this fragile planet.

[loosechickens]

well, since plastic is made from oil in the first place, not all that surprising, I guess.......it does seem as though it would be a way to "recycle" the plastic back into it's original form, but since you need the oil first in order to make the plastic, then have to use energy to turn the plastic back into oil, at some point, there's a point of dimishing returns.

but interesting, nonetheless, and if it would help to recycle some of the huge mountain of plastic junk clogging landfills, that would be a big help, too.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Well ...

Assuming the energy generated from oil by this is more than the energy used for the process.

How much energy (and other resources?) does it take to turn -> crude -> plastic -> various grades of petroleum, compared to turning crude -> various grades of petroleum? Because if the former takes more then there is waste in it having gone through the plastic stage. Which would point to reducing plastic use being more beneficial.

Ok, but for the sake of argument assume no reduction in plastic use. How much energy does it take to turn: crude -> plastic -> various grades of petroleum compared to turning plastic -> plastic (in other words recycling) and crude -> various grades of petroleum? Because if the former is greater then recycling is preferable, assuming we are still right now turning new crude into plastic.

I'm not sure how he's getting his reduction of carbon burning, must have some equation that works our positively?? Mind you it is COOL, I'd love a techno-fix, just being a skeptic to the best of my incomplete understanding

Of course there may be psychological and economic reasons this would work even if it didn't work out as an engineering problem. Because it motivated people to reuse rather than bury plastic in landfills or letting it float down the storm drain or ...

Buckminster Fuller believed there's no such thing as pollution only resources in the wrong place (there's no such thing as problems only solutions sang John Lennon .... oh wait where was I?). Anyway it's an interesting way to think about things, and I'd love applications of it, but resources can surely be in less usable states (carbon in the fricken atmosphere for one thing!).

[loosechickens]

Well, when we look around at the systems that Mother Nature has evolved over the millenia, not much goes to waste, and every resource is used by something or someone else, with no what we would call "pollution".

Yet, we think WE'RE the smart ones........

[mattj]

I want one!