Prof. Veena Sahajwalla of the University of New South Wales in Australia has won a prestigious Australian science award for one of the new innovating research process. If it succeeds on large scale and commercially, the environmental problems faced by plastics waste will disappear. In fact, plastics waste would provide a value addition.

Under the process, waste plastics are fed into electric steel-making furnaces as an alternative source of carbon and heated to super-hot temperatures of 1,600 degrees Celsius. It is quite well-known that plastics have higher carbon content. Carbon is used to add strength to steel. The higher the carbon content, the stronger but less ductile it is.
Typically 40% of raw material for steel is derived form scrap. To achieve ductility and strength by Carbon generally coal and coke are used. Plastic waste can partially replace coal and coke At high temperatures plastics release carbon and thus contribute to the strength of steel.

This new process technology will release plastic waste from land filling.