who cares if it takes more energy? the plastic still needs to go instead of sit there or in the ocean for 123412331212 years.
pacific ocean plastic - Google Search
its disgusting....
the problem is... if it is not efficient then it is not going to gain any traction and will be lost to history as little more than an idea that sounded like it might have been cool if only it worked better
in order for this to go anywhere it needs to be efficient... it needs to be easy... it needs to be convenient... and it needs to be profitable
because if it is not efficient then there is no point in doing this instead of just recycling the plastic back into plastic
the second company i posted up claims to be able to work with any plastics... no sorting cleaning or drying needed... so it definitely seems that it falls into the easy category
recycling is pretty fucking easy in this country and still only between 6 and 27% of plastics are recycled (varying numbers depending on sources)... some places do not have good recycling programs set up... some people simply cant be bothered to find a recycling bin to throw their shit in... some people dont know how or what to recycle... some people just dont give a fuck
and finally it needs to be profitable... they need to be able to make more money on the 3-5 barrels of oil they can get from 1 ton of plastic than it costs for them to produce it... otherwise this is on a deadend road right from the get go... unless it gets government subsidized... and we all know how well that works
A single Envion unit is capable of processing up to 10,000 tons of plastic waste annually, producing three to five barrels of refined petroleum product per ton of plastic waste.
so 30,000-50,000 barrels of oil annually per unit
oil has been averaging about $75 per barrel for the past year
that means at current prices each unit has the capability of producing $2,250,000 - $3,750,000 worth of oil annually... but then you have to factor in the cost of the equipment... the cost of running it... maintaining it... hiring people to run it... getting the plastic... and all of the other etc... and now the $2.25-3.75 million isnt looking like nearly as much money...
you might be able to charge more for this oil because it is cleaner than the oil coming out of the ground now... so it will require less work to put it to market... but you still need to make enough to outweigh your cost of operation... and nobody has mentioned those numbers yet
The Envion Oil Generator™ yields low-sulfur oil which is 99% sediment free – dramatically reducing refining costs. Similar to crude oil extracted from the earth, Envion's oil output can be converted into commercial fuels (gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel) through additive treatment.
just because something is a good idea on paper doesnt mean that its practical or going anywhere...