Could Plastic Waste Be Recycled into Soap? Virginia Tech Chemist Finds a Way

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Scientists estimate we recycle only nine percent of the plastic that’s produced around the world. A chemistry professor at Virginia Tech has discovered a way to use waste plastic to produce an ingredient that could be used to make soap.

Plastic is costly and difficult to recycle, partly because so much of it is contaminated with food waste and other materials. Chemist Guoliang “Greg” Liu said there are lots of things plastic could be turned into “But the problem that we face right now is often that there’s not enough economic incentive to the industry to recycle them,” Liu said. “So we’re trying to find a way to recycle into something that’s more useful to our daily life.”

He’s been working on a new technique to break down plastic molecules from polyethylene and polypropylene using heat, and isolate an oil. Liu says this oil is nearly identical to an ingredient used in most types of soap. “It’s a molecule that we use every day,” Liu said.

 Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com