The principle of recycling is now familiar to everyone. Yet, while it is a solution to reduce waste and adopt more environmentally friendly behavior, it remains imperfect, as it still causes pollution—particularly through greenhouse gas emissions during plastic incineration. Added to this are the by-products generated, which in turn pollute land, air, and water. In short, we can do better. And apparently, South Korea has succeeded.
Completely destroying plastic with plasma
One way to dispose of plastic waste is to use the pyrolysis technique. In other words, plastics that have been crushed or shredded are heated to very high temperatures, up to around 600°C. This process produces several residues.
On the one hand, there are waste products with very limited usefulness, which are essentially useless and therefore must be disposed of. On the other hand, some companies attempt to use certain residues to transform them into fuel.
And of course, throughout the process, burning plastic emits large amounts of greenhouse gases, not to mention toxic fumes. However, according to a statement from the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM), we may be on the brink of a transformation—a revolution in this industry.
All thanks to the plasma torch. “We have developed a process that successfully converts mixed plastic waste into raw materials, a world first. We will now strive to address waste and emission issues through continued demonstrations and the commercialization of this major breakthrough,” said the program director, in remarks reported by Gizmodo.
This means that we may now be entering an era in which plastic can be chemically recycled—without the need to burn it.
How does this recycling technique work?
It is all very well to say that something is revolutionary, but if we do not understand how it works, it leaves questions unanswered.
The goal here is to use a plasma torch—ionized gas that is extremely (very, very) hot—which, in just 0.01 seconds, disintegrates the plastic. The process is therefore extremely fast, leaving behind two essential raw materials: benzene and ethylene, which can be used to produce new plastic without relying on non-renewable resources.
In detail, while pyrolysis involves heating plastic to around 600°C, the plasma used by the South Korean institute can reach temperatures between 1,000°C and 2,000°C.
And the cherry on top: for recycling to be truly sustainable, it must be environmentally friendly overall. The plasma torch is powered by hydrogen, which helps to limit—or even eliminate—the carbon footprint of plastic recycling.
Will this counter the well-known “myth of recycling” highlighted by Greenpeace in a 2022 report? That remains to be seen.
What we do know, however, is that plastic production continues to rise, while solutions to recycle it and dispose of it with minimal environmental, economic, and health impacts remain few and far between.
