There’s a way to degrade a plastic bag into liquid fuel, say scientists

Scientists reveal efficient way to degrade a plastic bag into liquid fuel.

Just 17 years after the accidental discovery of polythene about 2 million metric tons of plastic were produced worldwide, and today the numbers has shoot up by 150 times, according to Earth Policy.

However, the scientists have been working on methods to degrade plastic more efficiently.

In a recent study published in the Science Advance journal reveals scientists from US and Canada appear to have found a technology to convert all the polythene waste into liquid fuel.

According to the researchers from Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry and the University of California, the method developed— cross alkaline metathesis(CAM) is “highly efficient” in breaking down the plastic “ without any pre-treatment”, compared to the current method—subjecting the material to great heat or ultraviolet radiation—considered to suffer “low energy and lack of product control.”

The process involves using of two catalysts, which further break downs and separate the substances used to make plastic items— compatible with various numbers of plastic objects that would otherwise remain dumped under the soil for thousands of years, could be converted to energy and chemical feedstock.

(This story originally appeared on Deccan Chronicle)