BOCA DEL RIO, Mexico (AP) 鈥� A startup in Mexico is trying to help get a handle on one Gulf coast city鈥檚 problem by converting it into gasoline, diesel and other fuels.
With less than 10% of the world鈥檚 plastics being recycled, Petgas鈥� idea is that rather than letting discarded plastic become waste, it can become productive again as fuel.
Petgas developed a machine in the port city of Boca del Rio that uses pyrolysis, a thermodynamic process that heats plastics in the absence of oxygen, breaking it down to produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin and coke.
Carlos Parraguirre D铆az, chief technology officer at Petgas, said that in a week, the machine can process 1.5 tons of plastics and produce 356 gallons (1,350 liters) of fuel.
The process does require propane to initiate the heating, but once the pyrolysis begins, the gas it produces is used to keep it going, according to the company. And using fuel it produces does throw off carbon dioxide, but the company says its net impact is less than comparable fuels because their fuel is lower in sulfur.
Parraguirre D铆az said that the machine shows that 鈥渨e can transform that (plastic) into a product that鈥檚 useful and has high value in the world economy.鈥�
鈥淚n place of having a dump, it鈥檚 as if we dug into the earth and found hydrocarbons that can be used by our community,鈥� he said.
Global plastic production, already exceeding 400 million tons annually, could surge by 70% by 2040 without policy changes, . China was by far the biggest exporter of plastic products in 2023, followed by Germany and the United States.
Many plastics are used for packaging. Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world鈥檚 oceans, rivers and lakes.
concluded in Busan, South Korea in December without reaching an agreement. This was supposed to be the fifth and final round to produce the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans, by the end of 2024.
Petgas envisions a circular economy where plastic is no longer waste, but rather a resource for the production of energy.
To that end, the company has organized plastic collection drives to remove bottles and other material from the city鈥檚 beaches. It encourages people to bring plastic waste to a drop-off point and receives most of its material clean and shredded from a recycler.
Alexa Mendoza, a biologist specializing in plastic contamination of the sea who is not involved in the project, said Petgas plan was a good initiative, but a 鈥渂and-aid鈥� for a massive global problem.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 seem to me a solution to put a band-aid on it and say, 鈥榞reat, it鈥檚 solved and let鈥檚 do it,鈥� but rather it could be a first step,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淔rom there, with the help of scientists you could take into account what needs to be adjusted so that it doesn鈥檛 become another source of pollution."
For now, Petgas donates the fuel it produces to the local fire department and food delivery services.
"The future is being able to really take production to a scale that has impact,鈥� said Parraguirre D铆az.
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Alba Alem谩n And F茅lix M谩rquez, The Associated Press
