Milk cartons, Styrofoam cups, grocery store bags — a new plant in Ashley, Indiana, wants them all. Brightmark’s facility is the first of its kind in the US. It converts plastic waste into wax and eco-friendly fuels on a commercial scale, a process Brightmark hopes will revolutionize the plastic industry when it opens full time in 2021. “We take a whole array of mixed waste that, until now, was not easily recyclable and reusable, and create circular economy solutions to some of our biggest environmental issues,” founder and CEO Bob Powell told Business Insider Today.
In its initial year, the plant will process close to 100,000 tons of plastic — about the weight of 600 blue whales — from waste management companies, manufacturers, and environmental groups. Finished products include ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, and companies like BP are already placing orders. “The BPs of the world, who’ve been very forward-thinking and are looking to a net carbon-zero future, find our products to be really helpful,” Powell said. “And it’s much better than pulling crude oil out of the ground to make diesel.”
Critics of plastics-to-fuel technology say these types of plants can release harmful emissions of their own when plastic is heated during conversion — not to mention diesel’s own contribution to air pollution. But Brightmark argues that its method is still better than what’s happening now. Studies show that if the global plastic industry continues as it is, then by 2050 there will be more plastic waste in the ocean than fish.
Source: Business Insider
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