German Scientists Transformed Plastic Into Diamonds, A Novel Feat That Presents A Unique Opportunity For Recycling Plastic Waste
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), there are now approximately thirty million tons of plastic waste in the world’s oceans and seas.
On top of that, an additional one hundred and nine million tons of plastic waste have accumulated in rivers around the globe.
And even though countless companies and organizations are working on recycling or upcycling this harmful environmental pollutant, only nine percent of plastic waste actually ends up being recycled.
In fact, only fifteen percent is collected for recycling. Then, forty percent of those plastics are disposed of as residues.
“Another nineteen percent is incinerated, fifty percent ends up in landfill, and twenty-two percent evades waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites, is burned in open pits or ends up in terrestrial or aquatic environments, especially in poorer countries,” the OECD reported earlier this year.
So clearly, something has got to give. Sure, companies from Adidas and Patagonia are working on using this plastic waste in environmentally-sound ways. But the majority of plastic waste is still left to litter the world.
Well, a major scientific advancement made by German scientists in September may be the key to transforming plastic waste into something so valuable that both mega-companies and consumers will not be able to pass up– diamonds.
Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf were able to blast cheap plastic waste with extremely powerful lasers. And in the process, they made two novel discoveries.
First, the plastic turned from virtually worthless waste into tiny “nanodiamonds.” Second, a byproduct of this compression reaction confirmed that a different and exotic type of water exists.
swalker3696 – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual diamonds
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The physicists completed this remarkable feat by utilizing a high-powered optical laser to blast a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic sheet. PET plastic is the same material used in soda and water bottles.
Then, the plastic was heated to about ten thousand degrees Fahrenheit for just one billionth of a second.
These extreme conditions ultimately created a pressure system that is stronger than Earth’s atmosphere by millions of times. It ultra-compressed the PET plastic and altered its molecular structure.
Finally, the plastic’s carbon atoms started to crystallize– which allowed for oxygen and hydrogen to escape.
So, the remaining crystallized carbon ultimately formed nanodiamonds; meanwhile, the oxygen and hydrogen transformed into “superionic” water or ice.
And amazingly, this discovery can have applications in various sectors. First of all, Dominik Kraus, the study’s co-author, detailed how nanodiamonds could potentially be used to convert carbon dioxide into other needed gasses.
Then, they could deliver medications into the human body.
Additionally, Kraus believes nanodiamonds could be helpful on a cosmic level by acting as “ultrasmall and very precise quantum sensors for temperature and magnetic fields, which may result in a plethora of applications.”
Perhaps most interesting and relevant right now, though, is nanodiamonds’ potential to reduce plastic waste.
Right now, plastics are most commonly recycled into containers such as soda bottles or laundry detergent jugs. Additionally, many companies have rolled out eco-friendly lines of consumer products that use recycled plastics to create everything from sneakers and swimwear to rugs and yoga mats.
But, the sheer cost of creating these items does not present companies with much profit margin. In fact, scrap plastic’s low value, coupled with the high cost of recycling, actually makes recycling plastic more expensive than just manufacturing “virgin plastic,” according to the waste management company RTS.
However, by creating nanodiamonds from PET plastic, companies will be able to sell these novel and luxurious commodities at a much higher price point.
So, with more financial incentives to dive into the recycled plastic sector, companies might be more inclined to start clearing the waste from our oceans.
Of course, figuring out how to streamline the researchers’ PET plastic compression process to produce enough marketable diamonds would be the next challenging step in this potential environmental solution.
Regardless, though, the mere possibility of converting such abundant plastic waste into a highly valued item is something everyone, from scientists to ordinary community members, can get excited about.
To read the researchers’ complete study findings, which have since been published in Science Advances, visit the link here.
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