Plasma Technology to Clean the Seas and Store Hydrogen : Ocean Polymers’ New Venture Seeks Recycling Investment in Arabian Peninsula
British recycling technology company, Ocean Polymers, has launched a commitment to develop partnerships with companies which invest in technology and recycling infrastructure to advance the circular economy within the Arabian Peninsula.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia the company also set out a commitment to prevent plastic waste products from degrading and leaking into the ocean.
“For over ten years, the company has been intensively researching and developing its polymer recycling technology,” said Paul Rodger, CEO of Ocean Polymers.
The process, a form of which the company said is an established system used by the U.S. military, separates, decontaminates and extracts hydrogen and syngas, as well as other by-products.
Whilst the precise details of the system and process are confidential between the company and its partners, the plasma technology used is a combination of existing engineering from North America and Europe.
A similar methodology for waste processing is currently employed by both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. According to Ocean Polymers, what makes its approach unique is the collection and storage of hydrogen and bi-products for sale back to the global market.
“Plastic waste is a valuable resource which should not belong in landfill or the ocean,” said Rodger. “Waste operators in the Gulf are looking for attractive alternatives to landfill and incineration of mixed plastics, which today costs them to dispose of. Our machine enables waste site operators to turn this plastic waste liability into a revenue stream not an expense.”
The company said that each machine, when fully operational, will pay back the associated capital expenditure within less than two years. It added that it is in discussions with several international Angel Funds and Foundations to secure capital investment and financing of the unique ship and land-based systems used to collect plastic waste; especially in areas thought previously to be inaccessible or of limited economic value.
“The ocean plastic problem within the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Red Sea as well as the littoral areas of the Arabian Peninsula is causing problems for both natural ecosystems and tourism,” said Rodger.
“We plan to work with leading companies and government authorities, within the region, to clean the ocean of the plastic waste and to create jobs through profitable Public Private Partnerships. This will also create more clean energy opportunities via the hydrogen and bi-fuel created,” he continued.
“It is important to bear in mind that other forms of waste, from hospitals, hazardous toxic sludge and oil refining residues currently put in landfill sites can easily be taken into by our land-based systems,” concluded Rodger.
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