In the not too distant future, researchers may be able to take a single piece of plastic junk and turn it into a sustainable source of energy. That’s one of the goals of a new project being conducted by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which focuses on recycling and reusing plastic waste. The team is working to develop a method for breaking down plastic junk into a form that can be used to generate energy, such as electricity or thermal energy. The process, called pyrolysis, involves heating plastic waste at high temperatures in an oxygen-deprived environment. The resulting product can then be used to generate electricity or heat. The team is also investigating how to capture and store the carbon dioxide that is released from the process, which could help reduce carbon emissions. The research could have far-reaching implications, as it could help reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills and oceans.

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source: Phys.org