Man Invents Machine That Turns Plastic Back Into Oil

AWESOME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8&feature=youtu.be

Not all that awesome. Any chemist can tell you what hydrocarbons are used to make the plastics, and the amount of oil this guy collects in his machine might not even be enough to power the machine. Then, what's he planning to do with the oil once collected? Burn it? Green house gasses go right back into the air with that.

There are already plastics made directly from plant materials, too. I've used plastic forks made from corn fiber and starch. They work exactly like ones made from petrochemicals but decompose when exposed to water and sun for a few days or weeks. It comes down to cost, though. While this guy can break down plastic items in his machine, then collect the oil that distills out, it'd be cheaper to recycle the plastic into other items. Happens every day. Ultimately, though, in the US, we need more people to recycle the stuff they now just throw in the trash, or better yet, spend the money to process the trash into recyclable material, instead of just dumping it into landfills.

Thanks Mort for bursting that bubble.

The big picture here is turning plastic back into something useful instead of taking 1000 years to break down in landfills!

liberals...