An estimated 10 to 28 billion pounds of plastic waste has entered the oceans annually since 2010, beyond the 500 million pounds already floating there, causing irreparable damage to the marine life and environment. Both remediation and prevention of further migration of plastic into the oceans are imperative. Clean Oceans International (COI) offers an innovative and sustainable long-term global solution to plastic pollution on land and sea. That plastic stream can be diverted from the ocean and converted to 20-50 million barrels of liquid fuels annually by Plastic to Fuel (PTF) reactors developed by Eco-Fuel Technologies (EFT) and in concert with Clean Oceans International. Each of these small-to-medium-scale reactors can convert 100-10,000 pounds of plastic per day via catalytic thermal depolymerization technology. EFT’s reactor size allows its placement aboard vessels on or near ships actively engaged in floating plastic retrieval, solving key logistical problems in remediation. Storage and transport of plastic waste to land-based sites is no longer needed, saving money and reducing environmental impact. Best of all, plastic wastes are converted to liquid fuels to be directly used by these vessels. Mobile land-based PTF reactors are optimal for converting plastic waste at remote sites, such as plastic sheeting used in agriculture, from which transport to a central location is unfeasible. The PTF reactor design must be sufficiently robust to process floating plastic wastes of varying shapes, sizes, concentrations, and chemical composition. The resulting feedstock is a salt-water soaked mix of several plastics, including polyester, polyethylene, nylon, and others. COI's vision of global plastic remediation and energy production provides a world of environmental and economic benefits.

Oceans of plastic converted to liquid fuels via small scale thermal depolymerization reactors

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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