Technical and Economic Studies for the Promotion of Fuel Production through Waste Plastic Recycling

Abstract

Fuel oil production is expected to become a typical method for waste plastic recycling, due to increasing demands for inexpensive fuels and the fact that it gives a higher energy recovery rate when compared to the other methods.
Technical requirements and the economic conditions behind this type of fuel production were investigated with the aim of promoting the recycling business. Poor performance and the high facility costs of tank reactors spoiled the economic feasibility: small sized plants of 1-1.5 ton/day capacity could not give business profits. Other typical problems were low thermal conductivity of the thick reactor wall and serious coke formation. Large sized plants of over 20 ton/day require huge investments, and do not fit into the treatment scale, typically 3-7 ton/day of waste management companies. In the current business of fuel oil production, collecting enough waste and reducing the recycling costs are obstacles that need to be looked at in a practical way.
To promote fuel oil production, a typical estimation suggests a business model that uses an oil production plant with a treatment capacity of at least 6 tons per day, a plant cost of 50000000 yen under the conditions where the selling price for oil produced is at 40 yen/kg, and a disposal charge of 30 yen/kg.