Cape Town's oil from plastics project

Patricia de Lille has signed an agreement to build a pilot plastics-to-oil plant in Kraaifontein. Image: Cape Town

De Lille, along with representatives of the Japan International Co-operation Agency and companies CFP and Kanemiya signed a memorandum of understanding for a pilot survey of the plant.

The project would entail disseminating technologies for small and medium-sized enterprises to convert plastic waste into fuel.

If successful the plastics-to-oil plant pilot project would attract investment and create jobs.

The project is funded by the Japanese agency. The survey team, comprising CFP and Kanemiya, developed equipment based on pyrolysis technology to convert polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene-type waste plastics into oil.

The pilot project will run for six months, after which a decision would be made on the sustainability and affordability of the pyrolysis technology - a higher-end waste-to-energy technology used for waste minimisation.

Kraaifontein plant

The survey team has identified the Kraaifontein Integrated Waste Management Facility, a World Design Capital 2014 project, to build and operate a demonstration pilot plant, at which the survey will be conducted.

The plant will include an electricity generator with a capacity of up to 150kVA. Plastic will be extracted from incoming waste at the plant.

The plant would convert 500kg of plastic into about 500 litres of heating oil daily. Some oil will be used to power a generator, with the rest sold as heating oil for industrial processes.

"By sharing this technology with us in a pilot site, the consortium will help grow the knowledge and skills base of the City," De Lille said.

"Further, (the consortium) will help us explore potential environmentally friendly solutions that offer economic benefits to the city," she said.

"We are encouraging projects of innovation, creativity and potential - now and in the future. I think that this pilot site has the potential to be just such a project. While I will not anticipate any outcomes for the project, I think we should appreciate the fact that we are taking a chance with this experiment and giving it the space to succeed or fail," she added.

Yuko Kanto, project formulation adviser at the Japan International Co-operation Agency, said the project will be made possible through a Japanese government grant of R10m.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge