3 ms·

Where's the catch? Energy efficiency? Patents? Someone please fill me in why this is not-as-great-as-it-seems (or is it?)

by s2r2 16y ago

auxbuss 16y ago
Possibly the cost of energy to heat the plastic. But at some point that cost is mitigated by the environmental benefit. Many could argue that that point happened some time ago. The cynic might point to destabilising the oil cartels and the general world economy underpinned by oil. Funny you bring up patents. It's seems we already live in world fearful of the darn things. Still, great video, and kudos to the folk who developed it. I really like the fact that the thing is so small and easily portable; killer feature.
- s2r2 16y ago
  I wonder if it being small is a problem. Converting some plastic to some oil is pretty nice, but does it scale? I have no idea
  - senki 16y ago
    From the description of the video: "The Japanese company Blest has developed one of the smallest and safest oil-to-plastic conversion machines out on the market today." The first hit on Google for "Plastic to Oil" is http://www.polymerenergy.com/ http://www.polymerenergy.com/ They say: "System capacity can range from 200 tons to 400 tons of plastic wastes processed per month. Overall plant capacity can be easily scaled up by adding additional modules."
flatulent1 16y ago
There are many issues that complicate recycling. There are many different types of plastics. The possible uses and available processing methods differ. There's the matter of sorting them, minimizing impurities, transport costs, energy of processing, issues with various toxic materials. At least five years ago an electronics/metals/scrap/recycling dealer I spoke with told me he was shipping his monitor scraps to the central valley (California), near Kettleman City I believe. He'd mentioned that there was a plant able to process the plastic from computer monitor cases into oil. I doubt that it is a cheap way to get oil, and it probably can't produce huge amounts of it, but it is a good alternative to putting scrap in a landfill. California collects a recycling fee with the purchase of monitors/TVs which goes to subsidize processing later. I'm not sure if the conversion is cost effective without the subsidy, but it seems the right thing to do regardless. I believe there's another processor near Victorville California. I heard they actually get quite a bit (over fifty cents a pound) for c.r.t. glass. It contains a large amount of lead. Dealing with our wastes can be dangerous business. http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/california-cluster-birth-defects-kettleman-city-7970/ http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/california-cluster-birth-defect... Huell Howser on PBS has had a number of shows relating to different kinds of recycling http://www.calgold.com/green/ http://www.calgold.com/green/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2Pl7UxbNo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2Pl7UxbNo I have to laugh and cringe when Huell keeps scooping up and pouring c.r.t. glass sand with his hand... no doubt throwing a bunch of lead dust in the air. Opps!!

Where's the catch? Energy efficiency? Patents? Someone please fill me in why this is not-as-great-as-it-seems (or is it?)

by s2r2 16y ago

Where's the catch? Energy efficiency? Patents? Someone please fill me in why this is not-as-great-as-it-seems (or is it?)

auxbuss 16y ago

Possibly the cost of energy to heat the plastic. But at some point that cost is mitigated by the environmental benefit. Many could argue that that point happened some time ago. The cynic might point to destabilising the oil cartels and the general world economy underpinned by oil. Funny you bring up patents. It's seems we already live in world fearful of the darn things. Still, great video, and kudos to the folk who developed it. I really like the fact that the thing is so small and easily portable; killer feature.

s2r2 16y ago
I wonder if it being small is a problem. Converting some plastic to some oil is pretty nice, but does it scale? I have no idea
- senki 16y ago
  From the description of the video: "The Japanese company Blest has developed one of the smallest and safest oil-to-plastic conversion machines out on the market today." The first hit on Google for "Plastic to Oil" is http://www.polymerenergy.com/ http://www.polymerenergy.com/ They say: "System capacity can range from 200 tons to 400 tons of plastic wastes processed per month. Overall plant capacity can be easily scaled up by adding additional modules."

flatulent1 16y ago

There are many issues that complicate recycling. There are many different types of plastics. The possible uses and available processing methods differ. There's the matter of sorting them, minimizing impurities, transport costs, energy of processing, issues with various toxic materials. At least five years ago an electronics/metals/scrap/recycling dealer I spoke with told me he was shipping his monitor scraps to the central valley (California), near Kettleman City I believe. He'd mentioned that there was a plant able to process the plastic from computer monitor cases into oil. I doubt that it is a cheap way to get oil, and it probably can't produce huge amounts of it, but it is a good alternative to putting scrap in a landfill. California collects a recycling fee with the purchase of monitors/TVs which goes to subsidize processing later. I'm not sure if the conversion is cost effective without the subsidy, but it seems the right thing to do regardless. I believe there's another processor near Victorville California. I heard they actually get quite a bit (over fifty cents a pound) for c.r.t. glass. It contains a large amount of lead. Dealing with our wastes can be dangerous business. http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/california-cluster-birth-defects-kettleman-city-7970/ http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/california-cluster-birth-defect... Huell Howser on PBS has had a number of shows relating to different kinds of recycling http://www.calgold.com/green/ http://www.calgold.com/green/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2Pl7UxbNo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2Pl7UxbNo I have to laugh and cringe when Huell keeps scooping up and pouring c.r.t. glass sand with his hand... no doubt throwing a bunch of lead dust in the air. Opps!!