Isix years ago, the young American SME Agilyx pioneered a technique that allows any plastic to be processed into very good quality crude oil. An invention that could turn landfills into new deposits of black gold, according to the Goodplanet Foundation.
This new technology has already convinced several manufacturers and factories are under construction in the United States. The 60-person company was notably able to associate with its capital the French oil giant Total, as well as the American number 1 in waste Waste Management.
Qualitatively, the crude oil produced would have nothing to envy to that drawn from around the world. Goodplanet summarizes the process: “First crushed, said plastic is then placed in a large 'cartridge', heated to be transformed into gas, then cooled with water. The oil is then separated by rising to the surface. Over 75% of the starting weight is turned into synthetic crude oil, ready to be refined like any Saudi or Russian black gold. The rest is divided into gas and final waste (less than 10%). ”
Jon Angin, vice president of Agilyx, explains:
“What interests us is not the plastics that are recycled today, it is the plastics that no one else wants and that usually ends up in the landfill”
The engineer insists on the prospects opened up by his technology for the old continent: