Converting Plastic Waste Into Fuel In Africa

Plastic Waste Into Fuel

Researchers in Africa namely Messrs Michael Commeh, Isaiah Nimako and Nene Amoatey, all came from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) saw the need to alleviate the number of wastes including plastics in the country. They looked and address the environmental problem in a positive way. They ended up developing a technology that converts plastics into fuel.

The type of fuel can either be diesel, petrol or even aviation fuel.  In order to do this, they will be using “Reverse Function theory” and “Thermal Decomposition approach”.

This technology helps the people in Africa to use these kinds of fuels as an alternative to fossil oil.

In order to decompose plastics made from low-density polyethylene and high-density polyethylene, the temperature on the technology used should be at around 40 to 70 degrees Celsius.

They are looking at the conversion as “money in transition” and were able to take the challenge of converting plastics into money. Researchers also believe that technology can also be used in turning e-waste to fuel, thus retrieving gold, platinum, silver, and copper from several electronic wastes.

While on the other hand, Isaiah Nimako Baah member of the research team look at the project as “materials in transition” which means that knowledge enhanced in order to include polymers used for vehicle tyres.

Commeh, the research leader says that base on the analyses they have conducted it shows that the fuel has a great potential in running engines. He also mentioned that in order for them to produce at least 2 barrels a day, the Student Representative Council of the KNUST has given the m 30,000 Ghana Cedis which is around US$12,500.

On the other hand, the executive director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy named Mohammad Amin Adam said that “due to the familiarity with fossil fuel people will find it difficult to adjust to the new product easily even if it is produced in large quantities, adding that its cost could influence consumers”.He also mentioned in SciDev.Net that “Even though [the fuel] is a new product and could be a substitute, it is only when the cost of using it is lower than the fossil fuel that people can be attracted to the use of it.”

However, he also encourage to have more research about the said project and mentioned that the government should help in terms of costs of producing the energy fuel so it can be cheaper than the fossil oil.

They are planning to set up throughout Ghana and the rest of the country once they got an additional funding for their research or when donors and investors partnered with them.

The project indeed is a wonderful research and may impact not just the people, consumers or different sectors but also the economy of the country.  Surely, this project will take some time but all great things starts with vague and little ideas. It is up to the government then to decide if they will be supporting the project or not. 

Humphrey Kariuki Ndegwa is a tour de force in the energy industry. His company, Dalbit International, is one of the most trusted petroleum suppliers in the African region.