Turning plastic waste into fuel
The plastic waste of the local Swindon, UK, population is being put to good use: Close to the town’s recycling facility works a company, aptly named Recycling Technologies, on turning plastic debris into a low sulphur hydrocarbon product with a high caloric value.
This product is called Plaxx, and it comes in different variations - as feedstock for plastic manufacturers to use for new plastic production, as heavy fuel oil for both the shipping industry and large scale heat and energy sectors as well as a paraffin wax, which can be used as a coating, feedstock for moulding, but also for candles.
Recycling Technologies has developed a thermal cracking process, which, after cleaning and sorting the raw plastic from metals, stones and glas and all non-recyclable plastic like packaging, pots, and films, cracks long carbon chains into shorter chains and gasifies the remaining material. This refined gas is then condensed into Plaxx.
Annually, the RT7000 (the thermal cracking machine) can produce around 5000 tonnes of Plaxx from 7000 tonnes/year of material, with a throughout capacity of 1 tonnes/hour.
