University researchers create ‘low-cost’ plastic recycling method

Researchers from Louisiana State University reportedly have created a new, low-cost plastics recycling method, claiming it could save billions of dollars and eliminate billions of tons of plastic pollution.

James Dorman, program manager at the Department of Energy and former LSU chemical engineering professor, and current LSU chemical engineering Professor Kerry Dooley use electromagnetic induction heating along with “special magnetic materials and catalysts” to break down different types of plastic.

The electromagnetic waves melt the plastics from the inside out, which, according to the researchers, requires less energy and produces only small amounts of byproducts like methane compared with pyrolysis, a more conventional method of melting plastic scrap.

“Getting plastics to the recycling plant is only half the battle,” Dorman says. “The other half is reusing that plastic waste to create new products. Some estimates show as much as 95 percent of plastics in the U.S. ends up in landfills and incinerators. Our process breaks down commercial plastics, including polystyrene and high- and low-density polyethylene, so recycled material can be seamlessly integrated into new products.

“Our extraction process retains key, core monomers so they can be reinserted into the polymerization process,” Dorman says. “For example, we can pull the ethylene from the polyethylene during recycling and use it to make new polyethylene.”

Dorman and Dooley say their new method works at lower temperatures and “offers more precise control of the breakdown process.” It also reportedly can be tailored to handle food residue and other contaminants that typically limit plastics recycling.

“By recycling these chemicals, we can help reduce the need for new fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions,” Dooley says. “Basically, our extraction process helps clean up the environment and creates a way to make money from what was once trash.”

“This breakthrough in plastic recycling is a crucial step in our Scholarship First Agenda mission to build a research platform for energy resilience,” LSU Vice President of Research and Economic Development Robert Twilley adds. “By innovating processes that increase the recycling of carbon-based materials and reduce carbon emissions, LSU is addressing the challenge of plastic waste and helping to create a sustainable energy future.”

Dorman and Dooley have worked with the LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) to pursue patent protection for their invention. The ITC focuses on transferring early-stage inventions and works into the marketplace as well as handles federal invention reporting, allowing LSU to receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year in federally funded research.

“We’re excited about helping Drs. Dorman and Dooley explore the commercial possibilities for this cutting-edge technology,” LSU ITC Senior Commercialization Officer Daniel Felch says.