Novel Utilization Strategies for Ocean Plastic Wast

There are millions of tons of plastic waste accumulating in the environment. If they were collected, they would ideally be converted back to monomers that could be reused in new plastics, completing a circular plastics economy. Unfortunately, ocean plastic is particularly challenging to deconstruct; it is degraded to varying and often unknown degrees, and may contain materials that could disrupt catalytic processes, including a variety of plastics and natural organic matter. These challenges make transforming ocean plastic back to monomers in a cost effective manner very difficult. A possible solution to this problem is to deconstruct the array of plastics to a hydrocarbon liquid that is energy densified and can be transported to chemical manufacturing facilities for conversion to monomers to make virgin plastics using existing infrastructure. Conventional methods of liquid production such as pyrolysis create a vast array of products and result in undesired formation of char and light gasses. A new hydrogenolysis catalyst developed at ANL has recently shown promise for conversion of polyethylene to liquids without these typical drawbacks. In Phase I of this project TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) will further develop this catalyst to produce a less expensive technology that is capable of converting ocean plastic to liquids without being poisoned by the seawater contaminants present. This will be demonstrated using simulated ocean plastic. This process provides the missing link to generate naphtha-like liquids for use in production of new plastic as part of a circular plastics economy. If successful, this project would have enormous social and environmental benefits by reducing the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways. The technology proposed here would reduce the need for petroleum by creating plastic from ocean waste with the same mechanical properties as virgin polymers, as well as incentivize the collection of ocean plastics. Large chemical companies are already investing in methods of utilizing waste plastic; if successful this technology would be of interest to a variety of commercial partners for commercialization in Phase III and beyond.