A Mexican startup, Petgas, is tackling a plastic waste issue in a Gulf Coast city by converting plastic into gasoline, diesel, and other fuels. With less than 10% of recycling the world’s plastics, Petgas aims to turn discarded plastic into a resource rather than waste. The company has developed a machine in Boca del Rio using pyrolysis. This thermodynamic process heats plastic without oxygen to break it down into fuels like gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin, and coke.
Carlos Parraguirre Díaz, CTO of Petgas, shared that the machine can process 1.5 tons of plastic per week, producing 356 gallons (1,350 litres) of fuel. While the process requires propane to start the heating, the pyrolysis produces gas that sustains the operation. The company notes that, despite the carbon dioxide emissions from the fuel, its product has a lower net environmental impact than conventional fuels due to its lower sulfur content.
Parraguirre Díaz said the machine shows that “we can transform that (plastic) into a product that’s useful and has high value in the world economy.”
“In place of having a dump, it’s as if we dug into the earth and found hydrocarbons that our community can use,” he said.
Petgas envisions a circular economy where plastic transforms from waste into a valuable resource for energy production. The company has organized plastic collection drives to remove bottles and other debris from the city’s beaches to support this goal.
Petgas encourages locals to drop off their plastic waste; most of the material they process is already clean and shredded by a recycler.
Alexa Mendoza, a biologist focused on plastic pollution in the ocean, acknowledged Petgas’ efforts as a positive initiative but cautioned that it serves as a temporary solution to a much larger global issue.
“It doesn’t seem to me a solution to put a band-aid on it and say, ‘great, it’s solved and let’s do it,’ but rather it could be a first step,” Mendoza said. “From there, with the help of scientists, you could consider what needs to be adjusted so that it doesn’t become another source of pollution.”
Petgas donates its fuel to the local fire department and food delivery services.
“The future is being able to take production to a scale that has impact,” said Parraguirre Díaz.
