Core to the microalgae photobioreactor project is the objective to find a constructive use for single-use plastics.
Using co-mingled plastics as an aggregate for building & construction materials might seem a good ‘recycling’ idea but in reality it’s just pushing the problem onto future generations. When demolition work releases the material back into the environment, it is dispersed as microplastic waste. At least when plastic goes into landfill it is contained in a concentrated form for future mining & reuse.
An ideal solution would be to separate the material by type and colour and then keep the purity high by using the material locally for as long as possible until an established local Municipal Recycling Facility (MRF) is available. Transportation costs for Mixed Plastic Waste (MPW) are avoided.
At the moment all waste has to be brought to a land based MRF, but what if the recycling facility was made mobile and brought to the waste? A project called Trashpresso by Miniwiz (thanks to Arthur Huang, Jackie Chan & team) has successfully mounted recycling equipment on articulated lorries and used solar panels to power the recycling process. The choice of equipment and final product had to be constrained to meet the project’s net zero energy and environmental impact objectives.
Installing additional equipment, and adding storage and handling requirements to increase efficiency would make this approach impossible to package onto trucks to transport by road, but it could be achieved with a containerised approach that is loaded onto vessels. The Manta project by Sea Cleaners is another novel approach but the design intention is to collect ocean plastic from the water and use the waste as a process power source, achieving 75% sailing & operating power self-sufficiency.
A less glamourous (but more affordable and lower risk) solution is to keep it simple and install all of the necessary plant equipment onboard a ship and power it by conventional means (although using as much stored solar power and green fuel as possible would help). Incorporating a modular energy deck system such as Grafmarine would help lower fossil fuel usage.
The future? Could a decentralised recycling approach capture plastic waste before it reaches the oceans?
More than a billion people living in low-lying coastal regions could benefit from this approach. A Life Cycle Analysis and detailed Cost Analysis for a marine based recycling ecosystem is not part of the PET bottle Photobioreactor project. However #recyclingships are being considered as an incorporated circular solution for sourcing recyclate, as well as the on-location production and delivery of a scalable fully functional modular microalgae photobioreactor system.
Post-consumer plastic can be collected and purchased as recyclate along costal regions. Using a human-centred approach to increase the value of this service, could help address marine plastic pollution and also empower workers, the majority of whom are often women.
Incorporating all the neccessary recycling equipment needed for sorting, washing, flaking, drying, melting & moulding plastic onto a vessel could be achieved. This would allow efficient use of the equipment 24/7 and bring the business model into the shared circular economy.
| Ref. | Source/attributes |
| [1] | The Trashpresso Photos – Jackie Chans Green Heroes – National Geographic Channel – Canada (natgeotv.com) Photo: https://assets-natgeotv.fnghub.com/Photos/67/167624.jpg |
| [2] | Solutions against plastic pollution in the oceans (theseacleaners.org) Photo: vue-surplomb-trois-quarts_ok-1-1000×0-c-default.jpg (1000×563) (theseacleaners.org) |
| [3] | https://www.greenbiz.com/article/heres-why-human-centered-design-required-marine-plastic-innovation Photo: wastepickerNigeria_shutterstock_shynebellz.jpeg |
| [4] | Original image: EllenMacArthurFoundation_Growth-Within_July15.pdf |
