I have no doubt that this technology has existed for many many years - probably since the beginning of plastic development. It just seems so logical and simple. If we could use this technology on a truly massive scale - we could eventually convert the Texas sized floating island in the pacific into millions of barrels of oil (yes - there is an island a thousand miles in all directions floating in the dead zone of the pacific MADE ENTIRELY OF PLASTIC!)
What a fabulous machine! Interesting that it converts styrofoam and other "non-recyclable" plastics to oil.
There is more information on this website: http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/plastic-to-oil-fantastic/ I wonder how much such a machine costs. In the long run, it's probably cheaper than paying at the pump (an alot more eco-friendly). You can contact the manufacturer for a price quote on a home machine at [email protected]
I emailed the company to find out the price of their desktop machine, which produces 1 kg of oil. It sells for 1,100,000 yen or $13,607.
I can't imagine they're selling many at that price. I wonder how many years it takes to recoup your investment.
Wow - that's funny. Kind of like the $100,000 solar system that saves you $80/month on your electricity bill! Like anything though - once it goes public and starts getting mass produced (like in China etc) the price should come down to a few thousand dollars. Which is still more than most people would spend. There are some great uses for such a machine though in the long run... If this guy was smart - he would set up a factory to build the machines using the oil from them as energy for the factory. That would be cool!