A An appliance for the times.
Just brilliant.
Every household should have one.
The perils of plastic are nothing new to most of us. There is a very conscious campaign to stop the use of plastics in our lives. Shopping bags and drink containers are considered to be among the worst culprits when it comes to contributing to world problems.
A lesser-known fact, however, is that plastic has a higher energy value than just about any other type of waste. To harness this energy while addressing the waste problem, Japanese company Blest has created a machine that converts several types of plastic into oil.
Rather than burning the plastic using flame, which generates CO2, the machine uses a temperature-controlled electric heater to convert plastic into crude gas, which can then be used to power gas-based household appliances like stoves, boilers and generators or, if refined, can even be pumped into a car or motorcycle.
Small yet highly efficient, the machine produces nearly one liter of oil ~ gasoline, diesel or kerosene ~ from every kilogram of plastic, requiring only 1 kilowatt of electricity for the conversion.
Though the machine currently processes only plastic class 2, 3 and 4 (polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene) and not class 1 (PET bottles), it still offers a remarkable solution to a serious problem and has many potential applications.
Blest CEO Akinori Ito says there currently over 60 machines installed at farms, fisheries and small factories in Japan as well as a handful abroad. They can be used for everything from converting trash left behind by tourists into oil to power tour busses and boats to powering restaurant kitchen stoves with plastic from food packaging.
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