Researchers have developed a new method to recycle plastics, such as those from milk cartons, food containers, and plastic bags, into soap. The method: Heat the long carbon chains in the plastics then quickly cool them. Researchers from Virginia Tech have developed a novel technique to upcycle pl
Researchers have developed a method to upcycle plastics into valuable surfactants used in products like soap and detergents. This discovery, rooted in the molecular similarity between polyethylene plastics and fatty acids, could offer a profitable and environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional recycling.
Guoliang “Greg” Liu, associate professor of chemistry in the Virginia Tech College of Science, had long felt this similarity implied that it should be possible to convert polyethylene into fatty acids — and with a few additional steps to the process — to produce soap. The challenge was how to break a long polyethylene chain into many short — but not too short — chains and how to do it efficiently.
Although plastics should never be burned in a fireplace for safety and environmental reasons, Liu began to wonder what would happen if polyethylene could be burned in a safe laboratory setting. Would the incomplete combustion of polyethylene produce “smoke” just like burning wood does? If someone were to capture that smoke, what would it be made of?
A flask filled with waxes generated from waste polyethylene and polypropylene is heated in an oil bath, and the waxes are oxidized by a stream of airflow to produce fatty acids via catalytic oxidation. Credit: Photo by Steven Mackay for Virginia Tech. Although polyethylene was the plastic that inspired this project, the upcycling method can also work on another type of plastic known as polypropylene. These two materials make up much of the plastic consumers encounter every day, from product packaging to food containers to fabrics. One of the exciting features of Liu’s new upcycling method is that it can be used on both these plastics at once, meaning that it’s not necessary to separate the two from each other.
Although soaps may not initially seem like a particularly expensive commodity, they can actually be worth double or triple the price of plastics when compared by weight. Currently, the average price of soap and detergent amounts to about $3,550 per metric ton, and that of polyethylene is about $1,150 per metric ton. Furthermore, the demand for soaps and related products is comparable to the demand for plastics.
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