Heavy-Oil Alternative Made from Waste Plastics Marketed to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Green Tec Co., a processor of waste paper and plastics in Kagawa Prefecture in western Japan, developed an innovative technology to produce a heavy-oil alternative fuel from waste plastics, and started commercial production in April 2005. Since 2001, the company has been engaged in making Refuse Paper and Plastic Fuel as a substitute for coal.

The price of the new product, called CPF (Cube Plastic Fuel), is less than half the price of heavy oil. In addition, its combustion emits 10 to 20 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) than heavy oil because it is made entirely of waste plastics, which do not contain much carbon. The company is the first in Japan to have succeeded in the commercial production of a heavy-oil alternative fuel from waste plastics.

CPF is made from soft plastic film used for packaging. Sources include wastes collected from gravure printing plants and plastic bag manufacturing plants, as well as plastic supermarket bags and plastic bags from food items such as bread, etc. CPF users, including a paper mill, have expressed satisfaction with the product.

In anticipation of continued high prices for heavy oil and an increasing demand for CPF, the company called for the cooperation of recycling businesses and established an integrated network encompassing raw material collection to production and sales. About 30 recycling companies have joined the project, and their combined annual production reached 40,000 tons in 2005. The company aims to raise this total to 100,000 tons in 2007.



Posted: 2006/05/04 11:11:30 PM
Japanese version