Plastic Conversion v. Climate Change

The amount of debris continues to double each decade. The threat extends well beyond the Great Pacific Garbage Patch because this North Pacific Gyre is only one of five major gyres in the world’s oceans. “Half of the world’s oceans are accumulators-- these high-pressure gyres that bring stuff into themselves…and every single one of them is full of plastic.” (Doucette, 2009) Researchers are in the process of figuring out if anything can be done about this.

Some researchers are exploring ways to clean up the plastic by using an emergency technology to convert the oceans of plastic waste into fuel. One of the principal ingredients of plastic is crude oil, which is four percent of the world’s entire supply or about 3.4 million barrels of oil a day at our current levels of consumption. If the energy in plastic could somehow be released, it is thought that it could simultaneously solve the waste problem while easing energy demand.

Plastic is made from crude oil and if you break it down, what you get is liquid hydrocarbon. A researcher developed a system that, with the aid of secret catalyst, can turn “one kilogram of waste plastic into one liter of hydrocarbon.” (Doucette, 2009) The hydrocarbons can then be distilled into a rough gasoline suitable for powering machinery, motorcycles, and heating systems. The issue here is that extracting a single liter of fuel takes one kilogram of plastic and 100 grams of coal, which is not an ecofriendly process because it adds to climate change and global warming.

We are the world’s largest oil consumer and the world’s biggest producer of waste. It is no doubt hard to balance the consumers’ desire for excessive plastic products (that come from oil) and the need to power America’s SUV’s. The idea of sacrificing one ecosystem problem for another is hard to balance considering the severity of both situations. Global warming is such an epidemic problem that we couldn’t consciously add to more catastrophic effects on wildlife, as well as the natural world. Further research is in effect to balance these two major differences but in the end, the real solution would be to reduce the amount of plastic we use.

Doucette, K. (2009, October 29). An ocean of plastic. Rolling Stone, (1090), 54-57.