Man Invents Machine to Convert Plastic into Oil

VINNY GOOMBA

http://www.flixxy.com/convert-plastic-to-oil.htm

If this really works, this could be one of the greatest inventions ever. It makes sense-- for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, right? If plastics come from oil, why shouldn't it be able to be converted back? I'm sure a lot of us have had this idea without actually having too much of an idea of the mechanics behind it. I know I have.

Very cool.

keeponrockin

That's amazing!

gimmesometruth27

wow that is awesome. hopefully countries can do that on a massive scale. and i agree with vinny, the implications of the potential effectiveness of this machine can be one of the more earthshattering inventions in history.

LikeAnOcean

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

Commy

LikeAnOcean wrote:

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

the day profit is not put ahead of people and the environment is probably the day capitalism is no longer around.

gimmesometruth27

LikeAnOcean wrote:

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

this way they can finally get rid of those floating garbage islands and stop filling up the landfills...most of those are made up of plastic, which never breaks down. might as well use it to make more oil.

LikeAnOcean

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

this way they can finally get rid of those floating garbage islands and stop filling up the landfills...most of those are made up of plastic, which never breaks down. might as well use it to make more oil.

Or they can use it to make more oil used to make more plastic.

VINNY GOOMBA

LikeAnOcean wrote:

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

I'm no expert on any of this, and I just found this link an hour ago-- and maybe this would actually be a better process of re-using plastic for plastic as you say? But I can see this as eliminating the energy wasted in even getting plastic to be recycled back to the facilities where it is actually recycled. Instead of throwing it in the recycling bin where it has to be carted away, throw it in this machine, have the machine drain to your boiler / water heater and heat your house with it. Have it drain to a tank with a pump and have your own gas station at your house. I know the ultimate goal is to get off oil all together, and maybe I'm overly optimistic about how this thing works-- after all, maybe it needs an incredible amount of electricity to operate? Also, how many gallon milk jugs weigh 1 kg? It's probably upward of 20 or so, and that only brings 1 Liter of oil out of it. Still, I think it's a cool concept and the technology behind it will only improve. I'd love to hear some more opinions on why this seems like a good or bad idea. Keep them coming.

LikeAnOcean

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

I'm no expert on any of this, and I just found this link an hour ago-- and maybe this would actually be a better process of re-using plastic for plastic as you say? But I can see this as eliminating the energy wasted in even getting plastic to be recycled back to the facilities where it is actually recycled. Instead of throwing it in the recycling bin where it has to be carted away, throw it in this machine, have the machine drain to your boiler / water heater and heat your house with it. Have it drain to a tank with a pump and have your own gas station at your house. I know the ultimate goal is to get off oil all together, and maybe I'm overly optimistic about how this thing works-- after all, maybe it needs an incredible amount of electricity to operate? Also, how many gallon milk jugs weigh 1 kg? It's probably upward of 20 or so, and that only brings 1 Liter of oil out of it. Still, I think it's a cool concept and the technology behind it will only improve. I'd love to hear some more opinions on why this seems like a good or bad idea. Keep them coming.

I think the idea would work if its more efficient than recycling. I cant see how it would be though. I would think it would be easier to convert plastic into plastic than back into oil. It may have some uses.

VINNY GOOMBA

LikeAnOcean wrote:

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

So.. why convert the oil into plastic in the first place?

Why not just recycle the plastic for new plastic and use the oil as oil instead of new plastic?

It's still coming from the same place.

I'm no expert on any of this, and I just found this link an hour ago-- and maybe this would actually be a better process of re-using plastic for plastic as you say? But I can see this as eliminating the energy wasted in even getting plastic to be recycled back to the facilities where it is actually recycled. Instead of throwing it in the recycling bin where it has to be carted away, throw it in this machine, have the machine drain to your boiler / water heater and heat your house with it. Have it drain to a tank with a pump and have your own gas station at your house. I know the ultimate goal is to get off oil all together, and maybe I'm overly optimistic about how this thing works-- after all, maybe it needs an incredible amount of electricity to operate? Also, how many gallon milk jugs weigh 1 kg? It's probably upward of 20 or so, and that only brings 1 Liter of oil out of it. Still, I think it's a cool concept and the technology behind it will only improve. I'd love to hear some more opinions on why this seems like a good or bad idea. Keep them coming.

I think the idea would work if its more efficient than recycling. I cant see how it would be though. I would think it would be easier to convert plastic into plastic than back into oil. It may have some uses.

I think the recycling process turns plastic into oil again before making it plastic-- but again, I'm no expert. If it requires burning the plastic (which again, I really don't know the process in recycling plastic for certain), this guy says that burning oil actually gives off less emission than burning the plastic.

I have to watch the Penn and Teller BULLSHIT episode on recycling again. I thought that was pretty interesting. I don't really remember the specifics, but I remember the point was that the only material really worth recylcling in the long run, all factors considered from efficiency to environmental impact was aluminum. But then again, they are magicians, and their sole purpose is to fool people.

VINNY GOOMBA

The comments on the video says it only takes 1kW*hr of electricity to make a liter of oil. 20 cents worth of work for approximately $1.50 in oil.

StillHere

this is absolutely awesome.i just have to share this.the guy is really onto something big. i wonder if the governments who profit from the big oil companies will allow this aggression to stand, man? i sure hope so... lets show this to Seamus O'bama and see if he stands by his word to do his best to rid our country's dependency on foreign oil. ya we need electricity to use it, so we're still dependent on oil for that, or coal, or nuclear, but what if this is done on a massive scale, then what? please watch this and lets talk about it..what say you?

approx 20 plastic milk jugs creates one litre of oil...we go thru that many in a week here with the boys. when i first read this i wasn't thinking of all the stuff he put in there in the video...bread wrappers, styrofoam, not just bottles...and i took a look around the house at all the plastic that we'll toss in the recycling bin to go off to the dump...and wow! just about everywhere i look!

i'd def use this to supplement my household heat..and hey, if i could figure out how to further refine it, i'd run my car on it ...whatever, right?

i have a feeling that the powers that be are going to swipe this right out from under this dude tho....its going to severely undermine their profits ten or twenty years down the road if it catches on either en masse as a self-sufficient household appliance, or industrially...either way, its cutting out the profits and kickbacks.

what say you?

send this vid off to obama with a letter requesting that he seriously investigate this technology. and then prove it to us. ??? like that'll ever happen.

whygohome

Are we sure that this isn't a video from The Onion's website?

VINNY GOOMBA

whygohome wrote:

Are we sure that this isn't an Onion article?

It's a video, and I don't see a slant towards humor in it. It's in Japanese, there are subtitles. Check it out-- it's not that crazy of a concept. Oil makes plastic. Plastic containers, bags, and wrappers become relatively useless quickly. You can go out of your way to recycle them, or you could potentially use science to turn what was once a container into useable fuel, which burns cleaner than burning the plastic itself using relatively low amounts of electricity.

whygohome

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

whygohome wrote:

Are we sure that this isn't an Onion article?

It's a video, and I don't see a slant towards humor in it. It's in Japanese, there are subtitles. Check it out-- it's not that crazy of a concept. Oil makes plastic. Plastic containers, bags, and wrappers become relatively useless quickly. You can go out of your way to recycle them, or you could potentially use science to turn what was once a container into useable fuel, which burns cleaner than burning the plastic itself using relatively low amounts of electricity.

I know it is real. It was a joke. I would buy one of these machines tomorrow. Can you imagine the furor that would erupt in this country - a country run by a Corporate/Big Oil Oligarchy - if the administration proposed the development of these machines?
I'm just worried that this innovation would be labeled "liberal, hippie propaganda."

StillHere

whygohome wrote:

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

whygohome wrote:

Are we sure that this isn't an Onion article?

It's a video, and I don't see a slant towards humor in it. It's in Japanese, there are subtitles. Check it out-- it's not that crazy of a concept. Oil makes plastic. Plastic containers, bags, and wrappers become relatively useless quickly. You can go out of your way to recycle them, or you could potentially use science to turn what was once a container into useable fuel, which burns cleaner than burning the plastic itself using relatively low amounts of electricity.

I know it is real. It was a joke. I would buy one of these machines tomorrow. Can you imagine the furor that would erupt in this country - a country run by a Corporate/Big Oil Oligarchy - if the administration proposed the development of these machines?
I'm just worried that this innovation would be labeled "liberal, hippie propaganda."

You're not kidding, I agree if this thing catches on, its going to wreak havoc with the rich and getting richer crowd...but hey, i'd have one in my home in a heartbeat.

wonder how long he's been working on this. i didn't notice a date on the video.

reducing our carbon footprint is a small step we can all take toward saving our atmosphere and our lungs.

VINNY GOOMBA

whygohome wrote:

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

whygohome wrote:

Are we sure that this isn't an Onion article?

It's a video, and I don't see a slant towards humor in it. It's in Japanese, there are subtitles. Check it out-- it's not that crazy of a concept. Oil makes plastic. Plastic containers, bags, and wrappers become relatively useless quickly. You can go out of your way to recycle them, or you could potentially use science to turn what was once a container into useable fuel, which burns cleaner than burning the plastic itself using relatively low amounts of electricity.

I know it is real. It was a joke. I would buy one of these machines tomorrow. Can you imagine the furor that would erupt in this country - a country run by a Corporate/Big Oil Oligarchy - if the administration proposed the development of these machines?
I'm just worried that this innovation would be labeled "liberal, hippie propaganda."

Sorry man, it went over my head. Who knows? This might find some favor with big oil. After all, it wouldn't phase out petroleum based plastics all that much if they have other use as seen here. I did see a commercial for an electric car the other day, maybe they're losing their stronghold?

StillHere

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

Sorry man, it went over my head. Who knows? This might find some favor with big oil. After all, it wouldn't phase out petroleum based plastics all that much if they have other use as seen here. I did see a commercial for an electric car the other day, maybe they're losing their stronghold?

nah, vinnie. imho they're not losing their stronghold....its just that they've got their grubby little fingers in everything. after all, where do we get electricity from? oil? what powers the plants that create these cars? oil? and adding one electric or hybrid or fuel cell car to a manufacturer's lineup is not going to put a dent in the gasoline business. at least i don't see it that way.

catefrances

wow! next thing you know well be turning paper back into trees and really putting a halt to all that nasty global warming.

whygohome

catefrances wrote:

wow! next thing you know well be turning paper back into trees and really putting a halt to all that nasty global warming.

Paper comes from trees?

StillHere

catefrances wrote:

wow! next thing you know well be turning paper back into trees and really putting a halt to all that nasty global warming.

:thumbup: :wave:

Tenzing N.

The oil generated is only a bonus in this device, not the goal. I think it's clear from the video that his intent is to reduce waste. I am curious as to what is left over after the process, and what byproducts are produced in the conversion process. Since the oils are usable without refinement what are the combustion byproducts? Carcinogenic? Noxious?

Unless this machine converts all plastic wastes safely and with high efficiency it will never be a household item.

If, however, it could be sized for use in a large scale recycling plant and still maintian acceptable efficiency and safety I believe it could find a limited market.

One final thought- do the oils that are generated burn hot enough to be used in the initial process? i.e.- can this device run on its own products?

CJMST3K

It's still no Mr Fusion.

Jeanwah

StillHere wrote:

VINNY GOOMBA wrote:

Sorry man, it went over my head. Who knows? This might find some favor with big oil. After all, it wouldn't phase out petroleum based plastics all that much if they have other use as seen here. I did see a commercial for an electric car the other day, maybe they're losing their stronghold?

nah, vinnie. imho they're not losing their stronghold....its just that they've got their grubby little fingers in everything. after all, where do we get electricity from? oil? what powers the plants that create these cars? oil? and adding one electric or hybrid or fuel cell car to a manufacturer's lineup is not going to put a dent in the gasoline business. at least i don't see it that way.

American car manufacturers are forced to innovate to stay alive. And yeah, you have to plug them in...

Jeanwah

Pretty cool concept! People are coming up with tons of ways to turn things into energy, it's awesome. I like the idea of farms turning manure into energy...

polaris_x

i'm all for it if it works!

haffajappa

Japanese people are weird.

catefrances

haffajappa wrote:

Japanese people are weird.

its cause theyre radioactive from those bombs being dropped on them. that and their monocultural society that seems to be a little uptight about something.

Drowned Out

Awesome! Nice find Vinny :thumbup: