plastic waste

Tag: plastic waste

Chemists find new way to recycle plastic waste into fuel

Written on June 21, 2016.

Approach tackles most commonly used synthetic plastic Irvine, Calif., June 21, 2016 – A new way of recycling millions of tons of plastic garbage into liquid fuel has been devised by researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) in China. “Synthetic plastics are a fundamental part of modern life, but our use of them in large volume has created serious environmental problems,” said UCI chemist Zhibin Guan. “Our goal through this...

UCI chemists help find way to recycle plastic waste into fuel

Written on June 20, 2016.

Millions of tons of plastic bottles, bags and other trash littering the oceans and clogging landfills could be turned into reusable fuel, thanks to research by the University of California, Irvine and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry. UCI chemist Zhibin Guan is among those who have figured out how to dissolve the strong bonds of polyethylene plastic to re-create petroleum and other products. The breakthrough, reported in Science Advances, means that the waste could someday be harvested...