Technology @lemmy.ml floofloof @lemmy.ca 5 mo. ago

Stubborn polystyrene waste finally gets innovative recycling solution

interestingengineering.com Stubborn polystyrene waste finally gets innovative recycling solution

Researchers propose a new chemical recycling method with pyrolysis to effectively break down polystyrene for reusability.

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- It's in more stuff than you think. High density polystyrene is what a good chunk of disposable plastic spoons/forks/knives is made of.
  
  The clear brittle kind. Cups too, the clear ones that snap when you squeeze them too hard.
- Honestly probably pretty easily. Its not even a good packing material.
TL;DR: Pyrolysis with a yield of 60 percent styrene monomers.
- So what does that mean?
  
  ELI5: They can now make the fluffy white plastic go back to liquid very well, and they don't even need too much work for that.
Just mix it with petrol and then you have sticky flammable substance to do with what you will
- Modern Day Napalm
  
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- Experimenting with spreading mine on a cookie sheet to dry in the sun. Chop it up and you got handy fire starters.
  
  EDIT: It works perfectly!
Just outlaw it already. It was a bad idea
- But then how will I make homemade napalm?
  
  This is the way to upcycle it
  
  I'm very against this unless it's praxis
Maybe we could just stop making plastic of all kinds. Reduce Reuse Recycle. Recycling is literally the last resort, we don't need most of our plastic stuff today.
- How will people convert convenience into money and become rich at the expense of future generations?
10Mj/kg = 2.7kWh/kg

Not bad efficiency.
- The problem is how low the density is.
  
  Sure: per kilogram it looks ok, but that one kilogram took up an entire train car to move around.
  
  And imagine being the guy who's got to clean out the train car afterwards of all the tiny pieces. Nightmare fuel.
- In situ processing should solve that. Imagine a machine where you put that in, it gets crushed and sprayed and the liquid is transported and recycled.
why is this better than just icinerating it for baseload power? That is the only truly safe way to dispose of plastic, plus pyrolisis adds an extra step, which costs more energy.

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