We spoke to Andrew Sinclair from GTM Trash Management about setting up a pyrolysis reactor on Lombok, Indonesia.
Full transcript of the interview.
Andrew Sinclair
The company revolves around this idea that we can turn the plastic into something with value, so that at the moment it's not of any value to anyone. So if we can put a price on it and turn it into a resource for the local people, you can't change people's mindsets over this sort of stuff. You need to change the the plastic.
Pristine Ocean
Before the age of modern chemistry, alchemists dreamt of turning lead into gold.
In the age of plastic waste, the new alchemists dream of turning old shoes into black gold.
A process that converts waste plastic into oil. This is the promise of pyrolysis.
Although the chemistry of pyrolysis is well understood, the commercial application is still in its early days.
Entrepreneurs are asking the question can we make money out of pyrolysis while preventing plastic from destroying the environment?
Can pyrolysis be the solution to the plastic waste crisis?
I talked to one entrepreneur who is launched, a pyrolysis demonstrator on Lombok, an island in Indonesia.
He and his team have set up a pyrolysis reactor. The Will digest one tonne of plastic waste per day and convert this into oil.
This oil can be further distilled to diesel.
On May the 29th, 2021, to great fanfare and with many dignitaries, his pyrolysis demonstrator was fired up and started devouring plastic waste.
The aim of the demonstrator is to convince investors to get aboard.
What seemed like an overnight success was years of toil and trouble in the making.
The story starts in Tasmania, Australia.