Chemical engineers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a way to deal with plastic pollution — by converting certain plastics into soaps, detergents, lubricants and other products.

The two-step approach developed by the team first involved using thermolysis, wherein the plastic was placed in a reactor and broken down using heat. In the reactor, the plastic was heated to between 650° F and 750° F and broken down into chemical compounds, leaving behind a mix of oil, gas and residual solids.

Source: Spencer Coppage/Virginia Tech

Key to the first step was breaking down the polypropylene and polyethylene molecules comprising the plastic within a certain carbon range.

While the residual solids left behind were minimal and the gas could be captured and used as fuel, the researchers sought, as part of the second step of the process, to alter the chemistry of the oil, turning it into molecules that could be converted into soaps, detergents, lubricants and other products.

The researchers added that the process, which took less than a day to accomplish, resulted in nearly zero air pollution output.

An article detailing the process, “Chain-length-controllable upcycling of polyolefins to sulfate detergents,” appears in the journal Nature Sustainability.