Is plasma gasification the solution for plastics and all waste?
by: Mike Ferrari Packaging Sustainability, Materials August 08, 2019
plasticstoday.com
The time is now to focus on stretching goals to deal with sustainability. The decision that went into effect January 2018 by China’s government (“National Sword”) to stop accepting all United States recycling has exposed the vulnerability and ineffectiveness of our current processes for recycling and all forms of municipal solid waste (MSW). As it stands today, our municipalities are now all scrambling to figure out where to put these recycled materials. Some have simply shut down any recycling programs and are redirecting these curbside collections to landfills.
The problem is not limited to plastics, it needs to be defined as … “how to deal with all MSW?”
In order to forge a new and more significantly improved waste management approach, it is important to know where we have come from, identify present challenges, and create a pathway to a better future.
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In plasma gasification, feedstock (trash) is introduced into a vessel of extremely high heat (~2,000 deg F) capable of breaking all organic chemical bond and reducing all trash including plastic, paper, glass, yard waste, food, filth, etc. to basic elements. The heat also melts metals, which are recovered.
The primary products from plasma gasification are two: synthetic gas (“syngas"), and slag/vitrified glassy rock. Both of these products have high value, with syngas being the primary product. See attached chart of what syngas can be converted to. Depending on the regional economics, syngas can be used for electrical power, methanol or liquid fuels such as jet fuel, diesel, synthetic natural gas generation and others.
Plasma gasification is not to be confused with incineration, which is the burning of waste-emitting greenhouse gases and creating ash. It is also different from gasification, which has many installations today creating syngas to produce polymers for the plastics industry. Plasma gasification used for MSW would require no sorting of materials, eliminate the need for landfills, remove long-haul trucking from our roads and be financially viable. Plasma gasification has three revenue streams:
1. Collection of tipping fees for collecting MSW;
2. Sale of converted syngas to power, liquid fuels, synthetic natural gas; and
3. Slag has a minor value in construction materials, abrasives for the tool industry, etc.
There are cost avoidances coming from diversion of waste from landfills and reduction of long-haul trucks transporting waste. Large municipal size plasma gasification units (600 tons/day) require a high capital investment (~$120 million), but have good financials with project payback in less than five years. This creates a true circular economy!
Plastics are not the problem, municipal solid waste is! Disrupting and transforming our antiquated MSW infrastructure should be a top focus for our local municipalities, states and federal government.
For information about joining the industrial consortium via plasma gasification and UF Center For Advanced Recycling email directly, Dr. Bruce Welt at bwelt@ufl.edu
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