THE PROBLEM

While wastepickers in some developing countries are very active in collecting plastic bottles and other plastics of value, soft plastics such as plastic bags, wrappers, pouches, and other scraps, are considered low value as they are not easily recycled or converted. Individual waste pickers and local businesses are not incentivized to collect these soft plastics, further compounding the leakage of these plastics into nature.

THE SOLUTION

Renewlogy Ocean developed the RenewOne, a mobile system for converting low-value plastics into fuel. The process reverses the molecular structure of flexible plastics to create diesel, without creating toxic emissions. The end product is a diesel fuel that has a high market value and can be used locally in many ways. This conversion process creates the end market value for soft plastic waste that affords the waste pickers higher financial returns.

COMPETING SOLUTIONS

See other plastic conversion processes, such as BNL Clean Energy.

CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

In 2019, Renewlogy built its first RenewOne system for Renew Oceans, which is targeting plastics along the Ganges basin in India. It is estimated that the Ganges contributes 1.2 billion pounds of plastic waste to the oceans each year.