Plastics Return to Oil, Landfills Dwindle

Dean Sigler Diesel Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 2 Comments

Several companies are engaged in mining America’s rich plastic mines, hidden in landfills throughout the land, to extract the oil that these plastics were made from in the first place.  Since many plastics are deemed as “unrecyclable” these endeavors come as a welcome change in that they could help reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and diminish those landfills.  Several environmental benefits might come from this. Since 93 percent of plastics are not recycled, this landfill mass grows quickly, and often puts a burden on local municipalities and industries.  Much of this waste plastic is sent to China, where it is burned, generating a high degree of toxic and greenhouse gases such as methane. Agilyx, a start-up operation in Tigard, Oregon, offers one way to change these destructive patterns.  Solid plastic waste, ground up and melted into a liquid, is condensed back into liquid form.  The process then separates usable oil from other chemicals and contaminants. Chris Ulum, CEO of …