WEBVTT Chemical Conversion of Plastic Waste into Fuel

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- You can hardly go by a day without

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using a plastic product.

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The problem is that
only a small percentage

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is really recycled and reused.

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This exponential growth and
accumulation is very bad

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for the environment, especially
the waste in the oceans.

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We'll have more plastic
waste than fish by 2050.

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(gentle piano music)

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So once the waste gets into
oceans it's irreversible

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because the cost of cleaning
the ocean is enormous.

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(machine humming)

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It's called hydrothermal liquefaction.

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The polymers will sort of
melt in the high temperature

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and dissolve in the super-critical water,

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and then, in this state, they can convert

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into oil or monomers or gas.

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It's a very versatile, powerful technique.

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If we can convert this into
valuable, useful products,

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that will create a driving force

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to reduce the plastic waste accumulation,

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and also reduce associated
risk to the environment.

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(gentle piano music)