Indiana Plant To Convert Waste Plastic Into Fuel

Chemical engineers will soon be doing something that medieval alchemists could not: Transforming a common byproduct of little merit into a useful resource of tremendous value.

In this case, the modern-day alchemy involves converting thousands of tons of plastic waste that otherwise would clog landfills and the environment, and converting it into fuel that will bolster U.S. energy independence.

Brightmark Energy CEO Bob Powell tells Newsmax that although the Brightmark facility will be the first of its kind, the process itself isn’t new.

“The original invention was done 14 years ago in the state of Ohio,” Powell says, adding that he’s been working on refining the process ever since.

It’s based upon the fact that common plastic is itself derived from petrochemicals. Adding ethylene and propylene to the volatile compound naphtha — a volatile product distilled from petroleum — forms the very useful, long-chain polymers that we call plastics.

Through a process called pyrolysis that process can be reversed, meaning plastic can be converted back into fuel.

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