Scientists have found a way to turn plastic into fuel with low losses

Converting plastic waste into useful products through chemical recycling – one of the strategies

addressing the growing problem of plastic pollution on the Earth. New research could improve pyrolysis's ability to recycle plastic and produce fuel as a byproduct. Discuss

Pyrolysis involves heating plastic inoxygen-free environment, which leads to the breakdown of materials and the formation of new liquid or gaseous fuels in the process. However, existing commercial applications either operate below scale or may only work with certain plastics, the scientists say.

Scientists conducted a joint pyrolysis of the two mostcommon plastics, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with various catalysts to study the effects of interaction between plastics. They found that one catalyst could be a good candidate for converting mixed LDPE and PET waste into valuable liquid fuels.

"We saw products that could be very good candidates for gasoline applications,", – said one of the study authors.