Utilization of polymer wastes as transport fuel resources: A recent development

Used plastic polymer is one of the major wastes in the developed countries like Australia. Australia is spending a lot of money each year to process solid wastes in land filling which are not biodegradable and can be a threat to the environment in the long run. About 19% of the overall plastic wastes are recycled every year in Australia. The incineration processes of plastic wastes lead to severe air pollution, too. Since the plastic polymers are originated from the petroleum resources, the possible technologies of converting them into fuel have drawn attention to meet the future fuel demand. Thus, converting the plastic polymers into transport fuel through a cleaner combustion process will contribute to saving environment. It has been observed that the thermal fuel conversion technology, known as thermolysis and the dissolution process of plastic polymers into an acceptable bio-solvent can lead to reduction of plastic wastes effectively. This paper presents a review on various thermolysis processes and the dissolution effect of various plastic polymers into bio-solvents. The technical features of converting polymers into fuel through appropriate and optimal technologies for the fuel production also have been analyzed. The authors have undertaken further studies on developing alternative fuel processing technologies to utilize polymer wastes as a resource, thus reducing environmental contaminant in an effective way.