Petrol from Plastic waste-"A Project developed by velammal engineering students"

With Pondicherry generating a high volume of plastic waste, the government owned Pondicherry Agro Services and Industries Corporation (PASIC) has hit upon a plan to generate petrol from the waste.

The Microbiology wing in the Corporation in collaboration with the management of Chennai-based Velammal Engineering College has mobilised technical and other expertise for the production of petrol from plastic waste.

A team from the college (attached to the department of Chemistry) headed by D. Sivaraj and his students held a demonstration in the presence of the Chief Minister, N. Rangasamy, on the premises of PASIC recently to show how petrol and other fuel could be generated from the used plastic materials.
R Dayalan the microbiologists in PASIC said that Pondicherry was generating 300 tons of solid waste daily in which plastic wastes comprised 30 per cent.

Twin benefits
By generating the fuel the project would help solve the problem of environmental pollution due to plastics and provide an alternative fuel source. Disposal of plastic wastes was a problem facing environmentalists and the policy makers. But the innovative plan to produce petrol and allied fuel was a step in the direction of cashing in on the pollutant itself.
It was felt that if a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the college for further intensified efforts to realise the establishment of the plant there could be perceptible development to generate petrol, save foreign exchange and also enjoy allied benefits.

It would be only a recycling process to generate `wealth from waste',

The demonstration was witnessed among others by the Agriculture Minister, A. Namassivayam, Local Administration, A. Elumalai, the chairman of PASIC, R. Kamalakannan, the Managing Director of the corporation, Natarajan, officials of the corporation and the academics from local technical and non technical institutions.

A clean and self-sustained Pondicherry could be achieved by converting plastic waste into fuel and generation of power could also be the spin off effect.

Source:www.hindu.com