Despite of various efforts like bans and charges by the authorities to limit the usage of plastic bags, every year billions of bags continue to block the landfills, waterway and world’s ocean. Now, by converting the ubiquitous bags into a range of petroleum products researchers have provided another reason not to throw the plastic bags. Plastic bags are already a potential source of corbon fiber and carbon nanotubes.
The researchers from ISTC (Illinois Sustainable Technology Center) conduct a process called pyrolysis. In this process they heat the plastic bags in a oxygen-free chamber. This technology has been used by research team to convert the plastic bags into crude oil and then in next step produce various petroleum products from the crude
