Recent advancements of thermochemical conversion of plastic waste to biofuel-A review

Abstract

Advancement and modernization have brought about a significant rise in all kind of commodities production. Plastics have been labelling as one of the materials due to its wide range of applications, light weight, versatility and low cost. Over the decades, the global plastic production has continuously increased to fulfil the global market. This phenomenon has resulted in the depletion of non-renewable fossil fuel since plastics are the petroleum-based material. Apart from that, the disposal of plastic wastes in landfills are also imposing risk on human and animal’s health as well as causing groundwater contamination. Thus, a sustainable and an effective plastic waste treatment is essential to overcome the related issue. Recycling and energy recovery methods are of the alternatives that have been discussed and practiced in many countries to reduce the plastic waste generation. Although recycling methods are highly effective, the high labor cost for the separation process and the emission of greenhouse gases during the process have reduced the process attractiveness. Due to these drawbacks, researchers have diverted their attention to the energy recovery field specifically on the thermochemical conversion method. Extensive research works have been carried out on the technology development to convert the plastic waste to bio-fuel. Although extensive research works have been carried out on the technology development to convert the plastic waste to bio-fuel, but there is still a lack of comparative discussion between the recent technologies, specifically on the economic feasibility in industrial scale. Thus, this paper aims to provide an overview on the strength and weakness of each thermochemical technologies such as a) Microwave assisted pyrolysis b) Supercritical gasification and C) Plasma gasification.