Innovations
Blue Planet Environmental Solutions
Converting plastic waste to energy
Blue Planet Environmental Solutions is a pan-Asian company driving regional sustainability through technologically enhanced and IP based end-to-end integrated solutions. Plastic pollution in the world’s water resources from land-based sources is reaching alarming levels. Blue Planet’s technologies tackle this growing issue by processing and upcycling unwanted plastic waste into useful resources and therefore discouraging leakage into rivers, seas and oceans. Blue Planet solutions range across the collection, segregation, transportation, and processing of all types of wastes including plastic, food and electronic waste.
The problem
Plastic was discovered 125 years ago. In the last 40 years, 8 trillion metric tons of plastic has been used, with 80% of it lying in landfills or floating in our oceans. Plastics contain harmful chemicals, such as bisphenol A (BPA) that is a known carcinogen for humans and known to affect soil fertility by impeding nitrogen fixation, among other processes, and also affects the growth, reproduction, and development in aquatic organisms. Plastics take 450-1000 years to degrade, and only a small fraction can actually be recycled. The problem with plastic pollution is growing, with an urgent need for innovations that can help address this massive waste problem.
The solution
Blue Planet technologies generate and distribute renewable energy with a particular emphasis on the alleviation of energy deprivation and replacing carbon-intensive sources of energy. By blending appropriate segregation technologies, Blue Planet effectively separates different types of waste allowing efficient and cost-effective processing of resources into high-value products. Once waste is segregated, they use their carefully selected technologies to upcycle the different waste fractions into commercially valuable products while ensuring positive social and environmental impact. This will result in diversion of waste plastic from landfills and produce fuel with a lower carbon footprint.
How it Works
Rudra Environmental Solutions was the inspiration for Blue Planet Solutions, with the goal to address single use plastic waste. Blue Planet Environmental Solutions continues to acquire resource-efficient technologies and a large numbers of waste collection staff which can collect other wastes as directed and prevent scavenging.
Their plastic waste processing/upcycling technology functions as follows: after plastic is collected, segregated and cleaned, a machine effectively reverses the plastic production process using thermo catalytic depolymerization (TCD). The TCD process cracks the long chains of polymers within plastic to produce usable fuel and cleaned synthetic gas. The plant is able to process plastic waste that is not easily recyclable including wrappers and other thin plastic and residual plastic waste material from businesses and households. The fuel produced is directly used as a source for burning without any need for further processing. Although the exact recovery ratio depends on the types of plastic received, the machine produces an average recovery rate of 75% with 1kg of plastic to 750ml of clean diesel.
Goals
- To be a socially inclusive market player with carefully integrated end to end solutions for waste management with profound and positive impact on both people and planet.
- To consolidate the fragmented waste management industry through the deployment of innovative technologies that optimize resource recovery so as to contribute to sustainability.
- To achieve net positive social and environmental impact aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Impacts to Date
The plastic waste conversion technology is currently deployed in India only where 1,600 homes were involved along with many women collecting the waste within that community. They have produced high yields (up to 80%) and significant social and environmental impacts. Through skill- development and training, Blue Planet employs local communities in protecting and cleaning their natural resources in order to decouple growth from environmental degradation. They typically expect to see a financial payback within two years.
What's Next
The company adopts the Triple Bottom Line ethos of ‘People, Planet, Prosperity’ throughout its operations and is focused on the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects in its core business strategy and reporting processes. By practicing equal opportunity and providing employment to vulnerable groups in society, the company hopes to address urban deprivation, empower women and other marginalized groups. The technology can certainly be replicated in other countries, including islands. To engage in a non-exploitative enterprise and one that hits all three bottom lines (People, Planet, Prosperity), it requires three components: 1) a pre-existing yet intractable problem with discarded single use ‘Ocean Bound Plastic’, 2) a need for diesel fuel or energy and 3) a need to offer through a Social Enterprise model the opportunity for marginalized people or communities.
More information
Interview conducted with Martin Blake, Blue Planet Environmental Solutions
For more information, please visit https://www.blue-planet.com/
