Investigating the Technical Feasibility of Plastic Waste Conversion to Fuel Using Pyrolysis

With the increasing plastic pollution worsening Africa’s environmental and climate crises (NEMA, 2024), existing pyrolysis research overlooking scalable, low-cost solutions for mixed plastics (Al-Salem et al., 2017), this research addresses this gap by developing a simple modular pyrolysis system and using locally sourced catalysts to convert plastic waste into fuel. Plastic waste was sorted using recycling codes (HDPE, LDPE, PP and PS), cleaned and shredded. A cylindrical metallic reactor with a rocket stove improved heating efficiency and plastic breakdown into liquid fuel, usable byproducts like combustible gas (syngas), and char residue. Heating was done in anoxic conditions to yield 70 – 96% liquid oil, with PP achieving the highest yield (96%). Locally sourced sugarcane bagasse ash was tested as a cheaper catalyst vs. activated carbon to boost fuel quality and cut energy use. (Hassan et al., 2019) Emissions tests showed safe levels of CO and NOx that fell within acceptable limits. This work highlights a promising way to reduce plastic pollution and create useful energy in Africa (NEMA, 2024), but requires better tools and support to scale up. Keywords: Plastic waste, Pyrolysis, Bagasse-ash, Activated-carbon, sustainable