(729a) Life in Plastics

If you take the human existence as a black box. Then many inputs that go into this box and then there is also many outputs that come out of the box. There is also accumulation and growth within the box. The one thing that is clear is there is a large consumption of natural resources and energy that goes into this black box and there is also a large waste stream which is an output. If we take a step back and see how this human operation work, we can try to re-engineer the process to find more efficiencies. 
I will start by telling the story of the history of waste. 
A few of the earliest known occurrences of deal with waste can be found as early as 3000 B.C. Around this time first landfill was developed when Knossos, Crete digs large holes for refuse where garbage was dumped and filled with dirt at various levels. In 2000 B.C. China developed methods of Composting and Recycling, and recycling bronze for later use. And in 500 B.C. in Athens, Greece a new law claiming garbage must be dumped at least one mile from the city was implemented.

Now we are in 2014 and much has changed with the new innovations in technology, communication and infrastructure. We now have the necessary tools to re-think waste the old ways of doing things.
My current focus is on plastic waste, both industrial and consumer. Plastics have an interesting life-cycle that spans from fossil fuels from which they are made to landfills which they end up. If it is possible to recycle and reuse these resins in an energy efficient way then this is the best way to continue their life-cycle, however due to the mixed nature of plastics this is often difficult as there are many different types of resins as well as colors. The solution that I propose is to convert this mix waste stream into usable hydrocarbons which can be used as fuels or chemical feed-stocks.

In Salt Lake City, Utah we are doing just that.  We have spent the last 4 years in collaboration with the department of chemical engineering at university of Utah developing a commercial process which converts mixed plastic waste streams into high quality low sulfur fuels. I will be presenting this journey with you.