ENERGY / ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Project to make oil from plastic waste

Samut Prakan hopes to cash in on landfills

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

The Energy Ministry will launch a pilot project to process plastic waste into crude oil in Samut Prakan through a process called thermal depolymerisation (TDP).

If it is proven commercially viable, the project will be financed by the energy-conservation promotion fund or the Oil Fund and promoted through various provincial administration organisations, said Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand.

Samut Prakan was selected for the pilot project because the heavily industrialised province generates 1,800 tonnes per day of garbage, of which 30% is plastic waste that can be processed through TDP.

Earlier, the Energy Ministry and Single Point Energy and Environment Co launched a demonstration project to convert plastic waste into oil by applying pyrolysis technology from Poland.

The project successfully produced oil at the cost of 11.50 baht per litre compared with the current world oil price of 15 baht per litre or US$60-65 per barrel.

The project in Samut Prakan will be run by the Energy Ministry, Samut Prakan authorities and Single Point Energy and Environment.

About 65 million baht will be used to buy the technology and install machinery that can convert six tonnes per day of plastic waste into 4,500 litres or 28 barrels of oil. Thailand imports around 800,000 barrels of oil per day.

The private sector may later be invited to invest in the project if it is commercially viable.

About 10,000 tonnes of discarded plastic has been dumped in landfill sites in Samut Prakan, which are expected to be filled up within 10 years.

This has raised a concern because new sites can no longer be found for plastic-waste dumping.

Dr Piyasvasti said the project was part of the government's policy to promote the use of renewable energy from garbage which has posed a big problem in major cities.

Recently, the ministry promoted electricity production from garbage and the producers were able to sell electricity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand at twice the regular price per unit.

At present, three garbage-fuelled power plants operate in Samut Prakan, Rayong and Phuket with a combined capacity of five megawatts.

The Pollution Control Department estimated that the country generates 16.7 million tonnes per year of garbage, of which 2.5 million tonnes were plastic waste, excluding at least 20 million tonnes of garbage dumped in landfills.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Tuesday April 10, 2007