NY State to Convert Plastics to Oil

[Monster]

In a sudden outbreak of common sense, NY State granted JBI the right to convert plastics to oil:

Slashdot summary :

"JBI, Inc. announced that it has entered into a formal Consent Order with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Region 9, which will allow the Company to immediately run its Plastic2Oil (P2O) process commercially and begin construction of an additional processor at its Niagara Falls, New York P2O facility. JBI has developed a process that takes waste plastic destined for landfills and converts it into diesel fuel, gasoline, and natural gas with very little residue. The process is said to be very efficient thanks to a special catalyst developed by JBI and an attention to process optimization. That plastic water bottle you tossed in the trash could soon be fueling your car instead of sitting in a landfill for 1000 years."

The indication that the stuff has previously been put into landfills is an indication how much precious raw materials are wasted in the USA every year, while Europe has moved to plastics recycling 25 years ago.

Here in Europe, plastics are collected and go to recycling plants where the plastics are sorted, shredded and turned back into plastics (often using the cold recycling technology developed in Italy). Reusable plastic bottles have replaced aluminium cans and glass bottles in deposit-return systems. Plastic bottles can be easily cleaned, and even if they have to be recycled, cold recycling is pretty cheap.

Over 60% of a household's waste is plastics. It's insane not to recycle it.

Turning it back to oil is not a bad idea, especially b/c the USA is still very dependent on oil.