4 ms·
Someone should build a recycling plant that ingests any possible waste, heats it hot enough to break apart all molecular bonds so there aren't any nasty complex
by csense 8y ago
Someone should build a recycling plant that ingests any possible waste, heats it hot enough to break apart all molecular bonds so there aren't any nasty complex byproducts, then uses temperature-controlled cooling to separately condense individual elements or simple standard molecules.
My guess is that it's not against the laws of physics [1]. But it would be pretty far beyond any current technology to do it economically, or at the scale to handle a significant fraction of the waste output of a large country. And also pretty energy inefficient.
If you have a grasp of the engineering issues (I sure don't), feel free to chime in on the (in)feasibility of this idea.
[1] I'm no astrophysicist, but this is basically what happens to "recycle" planets or asteroids, if a star swallows them and then goes supernova.